A Little Extra Help
by toritori9
Summary: The Hokage is not blind. He knows what trouble young Naruto goes through every day. His hands may be tied from directly stepping in, but indirectly? Yes, young Naruto could do with a little extra help. Naruto/Ino
1. A Little Extra Help

"Talking"

_"Thinking"_

"**Demon talking"**

**_"Demon thinking"_**

* * *

A Little Extra Help

It was a stormy night in the streets of Konoha, and most people were safely locked away in dry, warm homes, perhaps with a hot drink and a bowl of soup. Water collected in large pools, droplets following the minute cracks and crevices inherent to any street. Yet still more droplets, as if seeking shelter from the never-ending barrage of their brethren, sought small communities of rain water at the sides of the street, drawing comfort from company.

_Splash!_

A foot, bare and as dirty as the inside of a chimney, splashed through one of these small puddles, disrupting the harmony that had been so painstakingly achieved and provoking the water to rise up in an attempt to harm the offender, but the foot, and the body it was attached to, was already gone.

However more feet soon came after the first, splashing and stepping and stomping through in chase, prompting the puddle to splash and slosh around in an attempt at self-defence, but it was only rain water, and did not have the power to resist. Soon enough, the group of feet had passed through the puddle, and harmony once again fell.

The puddle stilled, and rested.

* * *

8 year old Uzumaki Naruto was running. Not because he loved to run, not because he was trying to catch something. No. Uzumaki Naruto was being chased through the village of Konoha, a loaf of bread in his mouth, a bag of apples in his left hand, and a knife in the other. He wore a pair of blue shorts, with a simple white t-shirt to cover his torso; well a brown t-shirt would be more accurate. His footwear consisted of only one shoe that was so tattered and worn, that he might as well have ditched it instead of carrying on a façade.

Naruto smiled, his target was up ahead, and maybe he could get these people off his back with what he had planned. Sprinting as fast as he could, foot splashing in a puddle on the side of the street; he drew level with a seemingly innocuous pile of crates on his right, as if forgotten about by an absentminded shopkeeper.

Naruto lashed out with the knife, slicing through a thin piece of rope and severing it completely. Instantly, the wooden boxes, soaked through and weighing a lot more than they should, fell to the ground with a resounding crash, creating a barrier across the street. Naruto turned around to observe the effects of his little surprise.

A crowd of around 30 people, blocked by the boxes, were standing by the boxes screaming in frustration. However, a few of the more agile individuals were already picking their way through the blockade.

He ducked into an alleyway.

He slowed his pace some, thinking the coast was clear, tied the bag of apples around his waist and grabbed onto a metal drain pipe, beginning to climb his way up.

"There he is!"

"_How the hell did they get through so fast?" _Naruto thought, and sped up again, his safe zone was just up here, he kept climbing, and started pulling himself through a shattered window frame that was hidden out of sight by poor construction methods, if he could only just –

A jagged rock, once part of a building in this area that had been demolished, impacted his leg just as he was pulling it through, opening a large gash, and rendering the leg unusable.

Naruto's eyes widened in pain, his face straining and biting on his lip to keep from making a sound. Even then, a small moan escaped his mouth at the intense pain wracking his leg.

"Where'd he go? Someone find that damn kid and bring his ass here!"

The boy let out a small sigh; it seems he was safe for now. He dragged his body further into the small room, part of an abandoned building due for demolition next week, and lay down, clutching his prizes to his chest. He began to chew on the bread, enjoying the taste. He could still hear the crowd outside searching for him; however they seemed to have quieted down some. A combination of exhaustion from the chase and the pain from his wounded leg soon sent him off into a deep and dreamless sleep, the apples spilling out of the bag and rolling their way across the dirty, damp room.

A slowly growing pool of blood crept along the floor from the boys wound, a wound that was slowly diminishing in size.

Uzumaki Naruto stilled, and rested.

* * *

Naruto woke up to sunlight streaming through the window frame, and the sound of the people of Konoha going about their business down below. Birds were singing, and there was a low hum in the air from

He sat up, rubbing his eyes that had crust in them from the sleep, and reached for the loaf of bread on the floor next to him. He did not expect his hand to go straight through the bread, ending up covered in some sort of mushy substance that vaguely smelt like a sewage pipe.

Naruto stared at the formerly solid piece of bread coating his fingers, before tentatively raising the fingers to his mouth, tongue sticking out to take a lick.

"I would not eat that if I were you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto whipped around, mushy bread flying off his fingers, seeing an old man dressed in white robes and wearing a wide-brimmed hat that sat neatly on his head, casting a shadow into his eyes.

"Ah Old Man Hokage, I wasn't gonna eat that, I was just gonna, uh, smell it. Yeah, I was gonna smell it, y'know, cos it was all mushy and stuff" said Naruto, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Of course you were Naruto, now what are you doing here? This building is coming down next week and I do not believe it wise to be resting in a place like this." Asked the Hokage.

Sarutobi Hiruzen was the Third Hokage, and was the leader of the village of Konoha. He was a stern individual, who commanded respect at all times and held himself with a strong upright posture, despite his advancing age. He is known over the Elemental countries as the 'God of Shinobi', and has reigned over the village of Konoha through two Shinobi Wars. He has experienced almost everything life can throw at him, and has weathered through with a grim smile and unbreakable determination.

He was also upset.

He knew exactly what had happened of course. His ANBU had alerted him to the presence of a mob in the Trade district, and he had instantly known what had happened. Young Naruto had stolen some food again, and had been chased by the merchant who had caught him. More people had probably joined the chase after seeing the target was the young blonde.

The Hokage had sent out a few of the Uchiha military police to contain and disperse the crowd, while he monitored the situation on his crystal ball. The police had arrived just after Naruto had crawled into the room, and proceeded to calm and disperse the crowd, taking a few of the more unruly members into custody.

After seeing the boy fall asleep in the abandoned room, he had decided to catch the boy as he woke up.

His gaze focused on the angry red line running down the length of Naruto's calf. He cursed his constraints imposed upon him by the petty political games of those old doddering fools on the council, and lamented the fact that he could not provide personal protection for the boy.

He thought to that day, just after the Kyuubi attack, and cursed his ineptitude. If he had only remained calm, and responded to the council's attacks with intelligence instead of emotion, maybe he wouldn't be here right now.

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The council was made up of two sections. The Civilian section in which sat the major members that were vital to Konoha's continued financial stability and trade, and the Shinobi section in which sat all the heads of the founding clans of Konoha.

The civilian section consisted of 9 members, who were all heads of various departments. These included the Heads of Finance, Metalworkers, Transport, Oil & Gas, Tourism, Agriculture, Communications, Clothing and Vehicles.

Each member of the civilian section, while not being ninjas held enormous power in their respective fields, and every one of them worked hard to get into those positions they now held. Some through brute force and bullying, some through lies and deceit, and yet others through simple hard work.

The shinobi section of the council also consisted of nine members, which included representatives from each major clan in Konoha, most often the representative was the clan head. These clans were the Inuzuka, Aburame, Hyuuga, Uchiha, Akimichi, Nara, Yamanaka, Sarutobi and Senju clans, which were part of the first cohort of Konoha Ninjas, back in the days of the First Hokage.

The Sarutobi clan had a suspended seat due to one of their members being the current Hokage, to avoid bias. To offset the uneven number of votes, an external unbiased party that had unquestionable loyalty to Konoha would fill in until such time that the Sarutobi clan can resume their role as part of the council.

This post currently belonged to Shimura Danzo.

Currently, the council room was in catastrophe, the death of the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato, had thrown some of the civilian members into disarray, while the more seasoned individuals sat in grim faced silence.

"Order in the Council, would everyone please quiet down and return to their seats." The Third Hokage's voice, carrying an undertone of command and authority, sliced through the chaos, and silence gradually fell as everyone sat waiting for his next words.

"Onto the first order of business, The Fourth Hokage has perished, and a new Hokage is needed to guide us through these troubled times." Here Sarutobi looked around the room with a keen eye.

Just then Tsunade, who was quietly sitting in the corner, stood up.  
"I would like to nominate Sarutobi Hiruzen, former Hokage and experienced member of the village to retake his post of Hokage."

Danzo spoke, "And what would prompt you to make this nomination?"

Tsunade was not fazed, "He is a former Hokage, who has successfully guided this village through two world wars. He has experience leading in times of crises, and none here would deny that his methods are effective. Furthermore, if a Godaime was elected today, they would have to deal with the current issues plaguing Konoha after the Kyuubi's defeat, as well as competing with getting settled into their role."

Here Tsunade paused, looking around the room and catching each members' eye,

"He is the only choice if we want to restore this village to some semblance of normalcy."

Finishing her speech, Tsunade took one last moment to make sure everyone had heard, before returning to her seat.

Sarutobi Hiruzen caught her eyes in a meaningful glance, she had played her part to perfection, as they had agreed upon before the meeting.

He could not risk someone else taking the post, someone like Uchiha Fugaku or Shimura Danzo. Both would be inexplicably bad to Konoha's continued welfare. No, this was the best way forward.

He rose, "Is anyone opposition to this nomination? And are there any other nominations?"

Silence reigned.

"Good, right then, I would like us all to take a minute to remember those that are no longer with us, including the Fourth Hokage and all the shinobi who died defending us from the Fox."

Silence reigned for another minute.

"Onto the most pressing matters first, the water transport system has been damaged by the riots that took place in Konoha during the Kyuubi attack….."

Many matters were discussed, and plans of action were created. Over 2 hours after the start of the meeting , the Third Hokage leaned back and sighed, now was the time to discuss the topic he had been dreading.

"Many of you already know, but for those who do not know, the Fourth Hokage was found clutching a baby in his arms after his death, a baby who was inscribed with a powerful containment seal."

The Hokage gave a grim look around the room, collecting himself for what he had to say.

"Uzumaki Naruto, the baby found in the Fourth's arms, is now the container for the Kyuubi, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox."

There was an instant uproar, from both sides of the council, as this news was released. Shock permeated the room, and many councilmen were standing from their seats, demanding answers.

"The Kyuubi is not of this world, it cannot be killed by creatures of this world. Minato was forced to summon the Shinigami, God of Death, in order to seal away the creature into Naruto. This is where the fox will reside until the death of its container, at which point the fox will leave this world."

The Hokage's explanation went almost unheard over the din, but it managed to calm people down, slowly the room quieted, and order returned.

"Hokage-sama may I make a suggestion?"

The Hokage turned to look at the speaker, one Miyazaki Mashai, Head of Tourism in Konoha.

"What do you suggest Mashai-san?" The Hokage asked warily.

"Why do we not kill the boy, and send the demon away right now?" Mashai asked, inquisitively.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?" Tsunade launched herself out of her chair, fully intending to pulverize the civilian for the words he had dared to utter.

Instantly, The Hokage was there, holding back the enraged blonde, while Nara Shikaku had tackled the offending councilmember out of the way. Even still, the residual force from Tsunade's punch sent a wave of Chakra infused air racing from her fist, causing most of the civilians to shiver in discomfort.

"Calm yourself Tsunade, we will not lose anyone else this day, no matter what he has said. Calm down, and return to your post, your actions do you no credit as the head of the Senju clan."

"But Sensei, he -"

"Sit. Down."

Tsunade, her face an angry, blotchy red, let out of a wordless snarl, before her wrenching her arm free of the Hokage's and returning to her previous position.

Mashai, had gone a ghostly white, and seemed to be struggling to keep from running off in terror.

"What just happened Hokage-sama? She just tried to kill me, your student just TRIED TO KILL ME!"

Tsunade let out a small grunt, but otherwise remained silent.

"Mashai-san, you have just suggested the premeditated murder of a new-born infant. That is a crime in this village, and the penalty for this crime is death. My student would have been within her rights to execute you, and I did not have to step in. Control your tongue Mashai, and return to your seat."

The Hokage was clearly angry, yet decades of experience and self-control had allowed him to clamp down on that anger with an iron-clad grip. The result was a clearly icy tone in the Hokage's voice that sent shivers racing down the backs of every councilmember in the room.

Mashai collected himself, and returned to his seat, yet he seemed ready to continue arguing his point.

"My apologies, Hokage-sama, I merely meant that, given the situation, it seemed prudent to eliminate the risk of the tailed beast's return as quickly and thoroughly as possible."

He gave a wary look to Tsunade, who had narrowed her eyes in Mashai's direction, but made no motion.

"I do not claim to understand the Fourth Hokage's plans or actions, but you yourself stated that the fox would leave once the boy has died. Would it not be safer for everyone here if the threat was ended right now?"

The Hokage narrowed his eyes.

"ANBU!"

Instantly 2 shadows detached themselves from the wall, and took a kneeling position in front of the Hokage.

"Take him in for conspiracy to murder. He can have a nice chat with the T&I department."  
At the same time he was making subtle hand signs to the ANBU member. Signs that translated to "_No. Physical. Psychological. Only"_

The 2 shadows, revealed to be 2 members of Konoha's elite black ops unit and the personal bodyguards of the Hokage, each grabbed an arm of the offending councilmember and started to drag him away.

"What!? No! You can't do this Hokage-sama, I haven't done anything, I was only suggesting!"

Mashai's protests decreased in volume the further away he got. Until no more could be heard from the errant Head of Tourism.

"Now then, as you can see, killing the boy is out of the question, therefore I propose that I will take him in until such time that he is able to fend for himself. Furthermore, I am creating a law right now that anyone who mentions the secret of the Kyuubi's imprisonment and Naruto's burden, will be executed for treason. Do I make myself clear?"

There were mumbled agreements from the council.

"_Some of the civilian council members don't look too pleased. Mashai's little speech seems to have created some dissent in the council. Curse that stupid fool!" _Hiruzen thought, angry that he had let the situation slip out of control

Just then, a new voice spoke up, one that had remained silent since the beginning of this topic of discussion.

"That would not be the best course of action of you to take the boy in Hokage-sama."

The Hokage turned his head towards the speaker, Shimura Danzo, head of the ROOT division of ANBU, a group that was so secretive that technically they did not even exist, not even on paper. The ROOT were given the missions that were so dark and secretive that if a Konoha shinobi was caught on the mission, it had the potential to cause a diplomatic incident.

"And why is that?"

Danzo rose from his chair.

"Fellow councilmembers, today has been a black day in the history of Konoha. A day where we have lost over half of our shinobi force, and many families have been slain."

He had the attention of the civilian council, and some of the shinobi members as well.

"Even more orphans have been created. It is a sad day when a child loses their parents, and this has happened countless times today!"

There were noises of grief, and minute sobs were let out in the silence.

"Konoha has orphanages, where we try to provide for these unfortunate souls. Yet, still it is not enough. These children regularly go hungry, there are not enough beds available at the orphanage and so many take to sleeping in the streets. Even water, one of our basic commodities, is a luxury for them."

There were noises of agreement, and disgust.

"And yet, our beloved Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who says that Konoha is his family, who claims that he loves all of Konoha's citizens."

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. "_Oh no."_

"Only wants to take in ONE orphan, not the other hundreds of orphans, but only one. To provide for one lucky boy, to give him food, a place to call home and a family."

Danzo's eyes narrowed.

"I don't think that this is fair."

Hiruzen slammed his hands on the table. "Naruto is not like the other orphans!" The Sarutobi said heatedly.

"He carries the Kyuubi and will be persecuted for it –"

Danzo cut him off, "Which your law protects him against. No one will know of his burden, and so he will be just another orphan. So he should be treated like one. The Hokage of all people cannot be allowed to show favouritism."

Sarutobi was in a tough situation. If he pushed the matter, then he risked sounding uncaring of the plight of the other orphans. However if he backed down, then Naruto would be forced to be alone, without the hokage's direct help.

"_Hmm, without the Hokage's direct help….."_

"I call for a vote on this matter, as to whether Uzumaki Naruto should be allowed to be cared for by the Hokage." Said Danzo.

Each member cast their ballot, and the votes were taken and counted by Tsunade.

"The results are….. 10 votes against, nine votes for." Tsunade's head dropped. "Naruto shall enter the orphanage"

"Very well, I will abstain from taking custody of Naruto, and he will be placed into the care of one of Konoha's orphanages."

The Hokage took a moment to take a long pause, and survey the people in front of him.

"I am disappointed in what this council has become. It is a sad state of affairs when the opportunity to better a child's life is shot down. Think about your actions here today, and what it may mean in the long run."

At this point, the Hokage sent a small glare at Danzo's smirking visage.

"_You win this round Danzo. I cannot take direct action, but indirect action may be the best case here."_

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

The Hokage snapped out of his memories, and glanced back at the young blonde in front of him.

"Naruto-kun, what happened to your leg?" He already knew of course, but he wanted to hear it from Naruto.

Naruto blinked in confusion, before looking down at his leg, seeing a large red line on his leg. It took him a few seconds to remember the events last night.

"I ,uh, was climbing that pipe outside and, uh, I scratched myself on the window on the way in."

Naruto looked at the Hokage with a pleading look on his face, as if begging him to believe it.

The Hokage sighed, that villager that had thrown the rock had already been taken in by the Uchiha Military Police, but to hear the desperation in the boy's voice tugged at his heartstrings.

"Well, Naruto-kun you should be more careful as you're playing. You never know what you could run into in these streets."

The boy sighed in relief.

"Sadly Naruto-kun, I must be leaving now. A Hokage's duties are endless, and I must get back to work."

The Hokage stared at Naruto for a minute. An idea forming in his head.

"Say Naruto-kun, did you know that ninja can walk on walls?"

"REALLY?! That is so cool!" Naruto gushed.

"Yes, I think it has something to do with them concentrating chakra at their feet, but alas! My memory is not what it used to be. All I know is that it is a very useful technique to have, and can increase your climbing speed. Even on drainpipes."

The Hokage gave him a meaningful look.

"So if I just send chakra to my feet, I can stick to walls?"

"Well, there's no harm in trying is there? Now goodbye Naruto-kun, don't hurt yourself too much as you play. I recall that young shinobi often practiced sticking to trees before anything else."

Yes, maybe Naruto-kun would benefit with his advice. After all, there's nothing wrong with a little extra help.

The Hokage smiled, and began to walk back to his office.

Naruto smiled, and began to walk back to his apartment.

* * *

**_Author's Notes:_**

So, welcome to my story, its my first time writing for fanfiction, and as such this piece will be used to help me 'find my feet'.

I hope it'll be recieved well, and I look forward to any constructive comments, that will help me to improve my writing.

Thank you

Yours, toritori9


	2. Less Chakra Needed

"Talking"

_"Thinking"_

"**Demon talking"**

**_"Demon thinking"_**

* * *

Less Chakra Needed

Uzumaki Naruto, was walking slowly down the side of a building, chakra holding him to the wall with a firm grasp.

It had taken a few months, but Naruto had finally managed to get down the technique, allowing him to stick himself to vertical surfaces, albeit slightly tentatively.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

_Uzumaki Naruto was standing in front of a small wooden fence, with his hands locked together in a hand seal, and a look of intense concentration upon his face._

_He had spent the last hour searching for that elusive force known as Chakra, after the little hint given by the Hokage. He knew that the ram seal was needed to concentrate chakra, from watching some of the Konoha ninjas training, and figured it could only help._

_Sweat beaded down the young boys face._

_"_There!" _He though, He had finally managed to catch a sliver of chakra from the roaring river in his body. He slowly, carefully manipulated the sliver into his foot which was raised into the air, and then proceeded to place it directly onto the fence._

_BOOM!_

_Naruto was launched back, flying directly into a plant pot which smashed to pieces upon impact, spilling its earthy contents onto the blonde._

_Naruto groaned in discomfort, and faint disgust, before carefully extricating himself from the soil and plant matter, giving a little shake as he stood to dislodge any soil._

_He turned his gaze back to the fence. Actually scratch that. He turned his gaze back to the cloud of splinters hanging in the air._

_Naruto turned his widening eyes skywards, and spotted a small black speck falling to the ground in the distance._

_"_Right, less Chakra needed."

**END FLASHBACK**

* * *

It had taken him a lot of practice to get it down, but the effort was worth it. For one, he no longer needed to use his hands to scale the buildings, freeing up both arms and allowing him to hold onto more items than before.

Also, more avenues of travel had opened up to him. He no longer had to walk amongst the people of Konoha, having to deal with the subtle hatred sent his way and the glares in his direction. The world of the rooftops of Konoha were now infinitely easier for him to access. It made traveling much easier. And escaping from angry citizens.

The knowledge of having an escape route that most others did not also spurred him on in his little crime sprees. Instead of quickly snatching a loaf of bread and darting away, hoping for the best, he could now afford to snatch up a large amount of produce, confident that he could escape from his pursuers by dashing up a nearby wall. Uzumaki Naruto was no longer as constantly hungry as he once was.

Walking along a series of connected rooftops, Naruto planned out the rest of his day. His first foray into the world of Chakra, on the Hokage's advice, had turned out immensely profitable.

There must be more he could gain by using Chakra!

As he became lost in his thoughts, a certain Hokage was also becoming lost in his own thoughts.

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Hiruzen was leaning back in his office chair, merrily puffing away on his tobacco pipe. He was lazily gazing out of the window, taking a break from his duties.

"_It is a beautiful day today. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and best of all the paperwork is done!" _he thought.

The Hokage was content.

"_Let's check what Naruto is up to?"_

The Hokage retrieved his crystal ball from under the desk, and focused in on Naruto, who was currently walking on the roofs on one of the terraced houses in the residential district.

"_It seems he has managed to master tree walking. I am surprised he managed it so quickly, I would've thought that his massive chakra capacity would have made it that much more difficult for him to learn."_

The Hokage smiled to himself, although he did recall that one incident involving one of his more…. eccentric jounin.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

_Piece reigned in one of Konoha's more removed training grounds, there was an omnipresent sound of running water, due to the small stream flowing through the middle of the training ground, with a small bridge running over the stream to provide safe passage._

_Squirrels frolicked together in the grass, while birds sang cheerful songs. Rabbits kept to themselves, shy of the other animals in the clearing. Fish rested in the stream, while a few of Konoha's wild foxes were sleeping in a small den. There was a deer on the side, calmly grazing on the grass, and gazing out with a wary manner. _

_All in all, it was a peaceful scene._

_"YYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU UUUUUTTTHHHH!"_

_Keyword: __**was**_

_A green blur dashed into the clearing, dragging two man-sized boulders behind him, each attached by chains to his legs. The boulders crashed to the ground with a huge __**THUD.**_

_The green man, slowly stood up from his crouching pose, and stood there silently, shoulders and cheat rising in time as if the man was gulping in large mouthfuls of air. His bowl cut hair cast a shadow on his eyes._

_All of a sudden, the man's lips parted to reveal of set of gleaming, perfectly formed teeth, before curving into an impossibly wide grin._

_From his eyes, a deep orange glow began to build in intensity within the shadows, before exploding into an impossibly intense flame, as if his very eyes were on fire._

_"YOSH! I have completed The Youthful Training Circuit in 4 minutes and 53 seconds. I have beaten my old record of 4 minutes and 54 seconds by exactly one second. I must tell Kakashi of this achievement and challenge him to beat me on The Youthful Training Circuit."_

_Gai jumped down and started doing press ups, with the boulders still on top of him. To anyone observing the scene, they would notice a very curious sight. What seemed like two boulders bouncing up and down at a furious pace, so furious that it looked like a grey, egg-shaped blur._

_"The Flames of Youth empower me with their everlasting intensity. I shall complete 1000 press-ups, before I rise from my arms."_

**_2 minutes and 43 seconds later_**

_"YOSH! I have completed my assigned target. If only my hip rival Kakashi were here to see me, he would be in awe of my physical prowess."_

_Suddenly Gai's head dropped, and tears started to leak down his face._

_"Why is my eternal rival so cool!? No matter what I try, he is always so hip! Perhaps it is time to move on from this pointless contest."_

_Just then, a large brown fence, usually found in Konoha proper, smashed onto Gai's head in a cloud of splinters and shattered into a thousand pieces, snapping him out of his melancholy mood._

_Gai blinked, before smiling an impossibly wide grin, raising a hand and pointing it to the sky._

_"YES! You are correct. It does not do to dwell on upsetting matters, but hard work and perseverance are the ways forward. Thank you, Oh Mighty Youth-sama, I shall never again doubt myself"_

_Gai raced off to find his eternal rival Hatake Kakashi, laughing the whole way._

_The only evidence of Gai's passing were the two boulders left forgotten in the clearing, abandoned by their master. In fact, if one were to look closely, one would notice a small droplet of water running down one of the rocks, almost like a sweat drop._

**END FLASHBACK**

* * *

The Hokage shivered, Gai had stormed in and kidnapped Kakashi in a whirlwind of fists, feet and youth. His poor office had looked like a bomb site.

Focusing his gaze back on Naruto, the Hokage raised his eyebrows in slight surprise, before smiling widely.

"_Naruto could do with a bit of expert instruction"_

All of a sudden, a hand grabbed the Hokage's throat from behind. Wide eyed he let out a pulse of chakra, pushing the attacker away from him, before instantly shedding his robes, revealing his combat regalia beneath.

Spinning around, and placing his back against the wall, the Hokage focused his gaze over the office to notice…. nothing.

He narrowed his eyes, before locking onto a small movement from behind the desk. Slowly approaching the desk, the Hokage prepared to confront his would-be assassin, but was instead blindsided by his enemy, and covered in a white material.

"_Wait! I know this material! It's paper!"_

Ripping free of his bonds, the Hokage locked on the small innocent pile of paperwork on his desk. Not willing to take any chances, the Hokage summoned his most trusted ally, Enma the Monkey King.

"Enma, my friend, our most hated enemy has risen up in rebellion, help me put an end to this farce of a war." The Hokage said, while pointing at the pile of paperwork.

"Very well, Lord Hokage, I shall grant my assistance to you this day, so that you may live for another." And with that, the monkey boss transformed into a golden adamantine staff, being taken up by the Hokage.

Hiruzen leaped towards the small pile of paper, staff in one hand, and a fire jutsu on his lips.

The paper let out a snarl, opened its horribly red eyes and leaped towards the Hokage, a 'Sign Here' dotted line on its lips.

The two met in mid air.

And then the Hokage's Office exploded.

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Naruto continued on his way, oblivious to the mortal peril his favourite old man was in, when he crashed into a hard, unyielding object.

_"Where did that post come from, it wasn't there a minute ago!" _he thought.

Looking up from his position on the floor, rubbing his head and squinting his eyes against the afternoon sun, the blond noticed that it was a weirdly shaped post. It seemed to be two posts that joined together about a metre from the ground before continuing upwards.

When his eyes caught the glint of a metal forehead protecter, he realised it was a shinobi, and that he had just crashed into his leg. His face whitened slightly, before flushing red in anger.

"Hey watch where you're going, I'm walking here!"

The ninja leaned down, bringing his grizzled face within centimetres of the boy's.

"What is a brat like you doing up on these roofs?" He asked, seemingly genuinely puzzled, and slightly suspicious.

"I'm not a brat, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I climbed up here of course!" Naruto retorted, annoyed at the comment.

"Hmm. I see. Well, I must be going, good day Naruto-san." The ninja prepared to leap away, sending chakra down to his legs, infusing his muscles and drastically increasing their strength.

"Wait! Ninja-san, where are you going? Can I come with you?" Naruto had a slight pleading look on his face. Naruto was bored, and he was looking for anything to alleviate the boredom.

"Unless you can run as fast as me, and jump as high as me. I doubt you can keep up." The ninja said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Well, how do I run and jump like you then. Will you teach me?" Naruto said hopefully.

The ninja gave the boy a look, and then simply said "Chakra." With that, the ninja leapt away, soaring high into the air and out of sight of the blonde boy. Naruto staring after him with a starstruck expression on his face.

Ibiki smiled to himself. The demon container was interesting.

"Wow." Naruto then focused on what the ninja said. "Chakra eh? Hmm."

And with that, Naruto attempted to send chakra into his legs. He should've known better than to try it without preparing first.

With a shout, Naruto was blown away from the roof and sent spinning through the air, leaving a large hole in the roof he had just … vacated.

"OH SHIT!" Naruto screamed, flying through the air in an uncontrollable spin, and getting vaguely dizzy from the momentum.

However, what goes up, must come down, and this applies to all things in life, especially orange clad blonde boys with demons stuck in their gut.

**CRASH!**

Naruto crashed into a hapless man walking in the street reading a book, sending the both of them into one of the many stands lining the street. Naruto groaned from the impact, slowly rolling onto his side in discomfort. He opened his eyes, and came face to face with a book. A book that was lying open, pages depicting a very _interesting _material.

Naruto's face flushed a bright red, before jumping up from where we lay, absentmindedly noticing he was covered in a thick viscous liquid, before focusing on the person who had unintentionally cushioned his landing.

Said person also climbed to his feet, revealing gravity defying silver hair, and his face covered in a mask that came up to his nose, while one of his eyes was covered by a forehead protecter.

Kakashi gave the blonde a disinterested once over, before beginning to pass his gaze over the crash site, searching for his book.

"Say kid, have you seen a small orange book anywhere?" He asked.

Naruto replied, "Yeah, it's right over there." Pointing to the object in question with a small blush on his face.

"Thanks." Kakashi reached down to retrieve his book.

At that moment, a single kunai from the former weapons stand, fell from one of the only tables still in one piece, striking the floor, a floor that was covered in high quality weapons oil.

The kunai sparked on impact, setting the stand ablaze, the hapless book trapped inside.

Kakashi froze, fingers still outstretched in order to grasp the book as the event occurred. Something, somewhere deep inside of him, broke. All of his muscles locked up, as his shattered mind tried to process the loss of his beloved.

Naruto observed the events with a wince, before turning away from the scene, but not before giving the still-as-a-statue man a puzzled look.

"Right, less chakra needed." Giving a quick glance to blaze behind him.

"A lot less chakra."

And then the stand exploded.

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Meanwhile, deep in the bowels of Konoha, cloaked in shadows and dealing in lies and deceit, multiple figures stood in silence. There was no movement, and not even the sound of breathing could be heard to suggest these figures were even alive.

Then one of them spoke.

"The Hokage is weak."

Noises of agreement from around the room.

"His compassion is stretched too far, and our citizens live in constant fear for their lives. Kyuubi is still alive, and with every day that he grows stronger, our lives grow more uncertain. Every day that the vessel is alive is another day for Kyuubi to take over, if it has not already done so."

The figure paused, as if taking a breath, before launching into speech once more.

"He constantly steals food and supplies from our stands, disrupting our businesses, our own Head of Tourism had the luxury of two weeks in Konoha's Torture and Interrogation department, and for what reason? For speaking his mind? No! For speaking the truth!"

The level of sound in the room was rising, as the speaker passionate words rallied the others.

"If the truth cannot be spoken then what hope is there? If we cannot even take comfort in the TRUTH?! Then what can we trust? The Hokage oppresses our words and no longer listens to our advice, his mind has been influenced by the Kyuubi and poisoned by it's youki. And so I say once more."

The figure paused to take in the results of his work, a crowd of people, fully behind him and his words, and soaking up whatever he tells them. He raised both his hands into the air.

"THE HOKAGE IS WEAK!"

There was a roar from the crowd. They were ready for his message.

"AND HE MUST BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE!"

The crowd continued their roaring, fully supporting the act of treason that had just been suggested.

Danzo leaned back from where he was speaking, clasping his hands and smiling to himself.

"_The sheep are on my side, and the first move has been played. Good luck Sarutobi Hiruzen. You will need it."_

* * *

_**Author's Notes**  
_

I tried to interject some humour into this chapter. What do you guys think? Is it too much, too little. Too cliche?

Let me know in the reviews people, I crave that stuff!


	3. Back to School

"Talking"

_"Thinking"_

"**Demon talking"**

**_"Demon thinking"_**

* * *

Back to School

"Get back here you brat! Give me back my stock!"

A rotund man, covered in jewels and wearing all manner of ridiculous finery, chased after a small blonde boy, clad in orange. The boy had a large grin on his face while making off with his loot. His loot consisted of a sack of rice, and a whole crate of bread. It did not take Naruto long to figure out how to increase his body strength with his chakra, instead of just his legs. This allowed him to increase his carrying capacity thereby increasing his profits immensely. He was starting to build up a nice stockpile of weapons, and his food forays were now becoming necessary only once a week to sustain himself.

Life truly was looking up for him, and it was all due to Chakra. He had ideas for what else he could do with it.

He was now 12 years old, and had spent 3 of the last 4 years at the academy. This was his final year, and he hoped he would be able to graduate and finally become a ninja. He was nervous about the test, it required the potential ninja to demonstrate proficiency in all 3 branches of the ninja arts: Genjutsu, Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. Although he had heard that a Jonin sponsor could waive certain requirements, provided you showed mastery in at least one of the 3 branches.

Come to think of it, a genin last year had managed to achieve that, a certain Rock Lee if he remembered correctly.

Back to the situation at hand.

"Help me! Get that boy, he's stealing my food." The merchant screamed, beseeching the surrounding populace for assistance.

A few of the public looked at the disturbance, and, catching sight of the thief, immediately joined the chase, easily outstripping the merchant and gaining on Naruto.

Naruto, glancing behind him, channelled chakra to his legs, increasing the strength of his muscles, and _leaped._

Now, Naruto had figured out fairly early on that there was a limit to how much he could increase his muscles strength, that was proportional to his natural strength. Therefore, the stronger his muscles, the stronger he could reinforce them.

His 12 year old frame was not particularly strong, partially due to his early years of malnutrition, and so he could not jump ridiculous heights. But he had enough strength to reach the top of a one story building in a single bound.

Which he proceeded to do with a joyous laugh, to the consternation of his pursuers. Continuously sending chakra around his body, he increased his speed until he was a blur to any civilian and running at roughly low genin level.

Racing past his apartment, dropping his loot in a small window he had carved out in his wall, he continued on his way, heading to the academy.

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"Listen up students, tomorrow is exam day and I expect all of you to put in your best effort. You are all capable of joining the ranks of Konoha's finest, and no matter what:"

Here Iruka, teacher at the Konoha Shinobi Academy, smiled at his latest cohort of students.

"You have all done me proud."

Just then, Naruto bundled in through the door, breathing hard from exertion, and face red with effort.

"Sorry I'm late sensei, I got caught up while doing some shopping and didn't realise the time."

Iruka gave Naruto a small glare, before sighing and turning to the class.

"Like I said you have all done me proud, even if you haven't done anything." This was accompanied by a nod in Naruto's direction. He flushed red, before moving to take his seat. He sat down by a pineapple-haired boy, who appeared to be reclining back in his chair, lazily focused on the teacher. As Naruto sat down he took a closer look at the boy, who was actually sleeping, before shaking his head with a snort.

The boy's name was Nara Shikamaru, heir to the shadow-wielding clan of Nara, who were known for their excellent quality of deer hide and medicines. They were also known for their unequalled laziness.

"Hey Naruto." This was accompanied with a small crunch.

Naruto turned behind him to notice Akimichi Chouji, a rather fat boy that also enjoyed sleeping almost as much as he enjoyed his food. It was quite rare to catch Chouji without a food item in his hands.

"Hey Chouji, so what did I miss from the start?" Naruto inquired.

"Oh, nothing much, he was just saying that the exam was tomorrow and we should all prepare for it. No biggie." Chouji said dismissively.

"What?! It's tomorrow, I thought we had another week. Oh crap I'm not even ready for it."

As Naruto started hyperventilating, and worrying for his future, a blue-haired girl in the back was watching him dreamily, a small smile on her face.

"_Naruto-kun….." _Hinata, heiress to the Hyuuga clan, thought to herself. Dressed in a unflattering jacket and a plain navy blue pair of trousers coupled with standard issue shinobi sandals, it was clear to the astute observer that Hinata was almost painfully shy, and that there were some sort of self-esteem issues present there.

All of a sudden she was nudged in the side. Startled Hinata turned to face her assailant, revealing it to be none other than Yamanaka Ino, heiress to the Yamanaka clan which specialised in Jutsus dealing with the mind.

"Hinata, he's never gonna notice you, y'know, he's way too dense. If you want him to take notice, you're gonna have to make him." Ino said, with an amused expression on her face.

Ino was blue-eyed, blonde-haired girl, dressed in a short purple dress, with bandages covering her midriff and thighs. Ino was a very headstrong girl, who was not strongly versed in the art of subtlety, hence the advice she was giving to Hinata right now.

"I-I don't kno-know what you m-mean" Hinata stammered with a red face, embarrassed at being caught out by the class gossip of all people.

"Sure you do, you'll never get anywhere if you don't stand up and make yourself heard. Here, watch this!"

She wrote a quick note on a small scrap of paper, then balled it up and lobbed at Naruto's head, which it hit dead on, while Iruka's back was turned. Ino sat back with a satisfied air.

Naruto, puzzled at the small piece of paper, retrieved it from the floor, where it had dropped after hitting his head, unfurled it before scanning it's contents. He let out a small squeak, before coughing uncomfortably and facing the front, face red with embarrassment.

"What did it say?! What did you do!" Hinata asked insistently.

Ino replied, amused grin on her face: "Oh nothing much, just I may have mentioned your feelings toward him in very graphic detail." She replied dismissively.

"What?!" Hinata was mortified, before cowering down and pulling her jacket up, effectively hiding her face from anyone who would look, especially Naruto.

_"Job well done."_ Ino thought to herself. "_Hinata was never gonna make a move, and Naruto was never gonna notice anyway."_

"Stop bothering her Ino, you're embarrassing her!"

Ino looked over to her other side, where another girl was sat. This girl had vibrant pink hair, and was listening intently to the lecturer, pencil in hand and page after page of notes seemingly filling up out of nowhere. This girl was Haruno Sakura, the most academically gifted student in the class, and a shoe in for kunoichi of the year, despite her mediocre proficiency in practical work. Currently she was burning a hole straight through Ino's eyes with her fiery glare.

"Oh come off it Sakura! She's too shy, she'll have never made a move, and by the time she would've built up the courage Naruto would probably be with someone else."

Hinata just squeaked in the back, face still buried in her hands.

"That's no reason for you to go butting into her life, besides I'm sure that Naruto will stay single for ages, I don't know who else would want a dunce like him. He's nothing like Sasuke-kun, who's always so calm and collected. His whole family was slaughtered you know, and he still pays attention in class."

With this, Sakura shot a dreamy look at a black-haired boy sitting in the front of the class, who was staring at the teacher with a dismissive look on his face.

"Oh sure, and you will be the one who mends his broken heart and teaches him how to love again, at which point you will both live happily ever after. Yeah right Sakura, you'd be better off with Kiba than with that apathetic loser." Ino said despairingly, let it be known that she was not a fan of Uchiha Sasuke.

Just then, a brown-haired boy turned around in his seat, and upon seeing the 2 girls conversing, immediately grinned lecherously. Kiba was a member and clan heir of the Inuzuka clan, known for their intimate connection with their nin-dogs, and were capable of highly effective combination attacks that could shred their enemies in a blink of an eye. The Inuzuka were also known for their better than average senses. They shared a number of traits with their companions, not the least of which was their animalistic senses.

"Did I hear a beautiful lady say my name?" Kiba said smarmily.

Ino narrowed her eyes. "Don't get any ideas mutt, Like I'd ever think like that about your flea-ridden ass."

Kiba was undaunted, "Oh come on baby, how could you resist these weapons of mass seduction right here?!" He said, flexing his arms and chest for effect.

Ino just rolled her eyes.

At the front of the class, Uchiha Sasuke, the object of Sakura's affections, was oblivious to the discussion at the back of the class. Sasuke was a quiet, brooding boy, constantly seeming as if he was deep in thought. This created a slightly unapproachable aura around him, discouraging people from trying to speak to him, which was just the way he liked it. He was known in Konoha as The Last Uchiha, and he was adored by the civilian populous for his strength in surviving that terrible night. It was a name that he detested. He could remember that night so clearly, there was no strength from him. To Itachi, his older brother, he was naught but a fly, and he was swatted away like him. He still shivered thinking about it, and he vowed to one day gain vengeance upon his clan, and to kill the traitor Itachi, the one who had taken everything from him.

Looking up from his solemn silence, he glanced disinterestedly over at Shino sitting next to him. He was about the only one in the class he could stand, mostly due to the fact that they never talked to each other.

Sasuke looked back at the teacher. He didn't care about Shino. He didn't care about anyone.

Aburame Shino was the clan heir of the insect-wielding Aburame clan. They had, somehow, formed a symbiotic relationship with a particularly voracious species of bug, that consumed chakra for sustenance, leaving the Aburame host with small amounts of chakra. Whilst the host had enough Chakra to pull off a kawarimi or a shunshin, anything more chakra consuming was very difficult to do, if not downright impossible for most members of the clan. Despite this drawback, the benefits more than made up for it. Aburame members could use their symbiotic bugs for unparalleled scouting and tracking ability making them the most sought after reconnaissance specialists in Konoha, The Inuzukas coming a close second. In addition to that, an Aburame was very dangerous in battle, due to their insects chakra consuming capabilities, an Aburame could win any battle of attrition, bar any Jinchuurikis that might show up.

Shino glanced over at Naruto, analysing his red face and attempting to determine the cause of such unusual behaviour from the blonde. As far as he knew, the blonde has never been embarassed in his life Although it would be illogical to assume never, as he only sees him at the academy.

Naruto turned back around in his seat, tomato-faced, and embarrassed to his core. He never knew Hinata was so…so.._forward._ To be honest it made him slightly uncomfortable, and a little afraid. Who knew what horrors lay under Hinata's timid exterior, if she could produce something like that on a note.

Naruto snuck another glance behind him, perhaps in some sort of confirmation of his thoughts, and noticed poor Hinata burying her head in her arms in mortification, while Ino, sitting next to her, was sitting back with a smug, self-satisfied grin on her face.

Instantly Naruto understood. It was Ino.

He snorted, "_What a bitch."_

* * *

"Alright quiet down class, today will be a revision day, and we will cover everything that one needs to know for both the written and practical portions of the exam. First we will begin on the practical aspects. As you all know, a shinobi's mind and instincts are their greatest weapons in battle. During conflict, when you have no time for complicated plans and maneuvers you must rely on memory and instinct to make your choices. That is why we train so hard, to embed those movements into or muscle memory, which allows to execute them almost instantaneously."

Here Iruka paused.

"Remember that class, it will be tested on in the exam." Iruka had a strict look on his face, and every student suddenly sat up and paid more attention.

Well, almost everyone. A certain blonde couldn't wait to leave.

"_Come on! This is so boring! I wanna get back to the training ground, I've got a few ideas to try."_

Naruto should've paid more attention.

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Naruto was standing still in the middle of a training ground, with a look of intense concentration upon his face, and a small part of his tongue poking out between his lips.

He had had an idea regarding his chakra a month ago, and he had been anxiously trying to get it working every day since.

Sending his chakra down his legs, and into the ground, carefully moving it into a large concentration of chakra a meter in front of him, he grit his teeth. Here came the hard part. He painstakingly forced his chakra to attach to every part of the ground around it, forcing it into every nook and cranny and infusing the very rock itself with his chakra, this complex process took the better part of 10 minutes to perform.

Naruto was sweating buckets now, not from exertion, but from the concentration he had to maintain in order to be able to control his chakra so far away from his body. Once he felt that he had wormed his chakra into the earth thoroughly enough. He willed the mass of chakra into the air.

Focusing on the ground a meter in front of him, he gained a slightly hopeful look on his face, which soon blossomed into joy at seeing the ground shake. What looked like a ball of earth slowly rose into the air, where it hung as if suspended. Naruto jumped in joy, screaming out his success.

"YES! IT WORKS IT WORKS IT WORKS IT –"

The ball of earth crumbled, due to the Naruto's lack of concentration, so engrossed was he in his celebration.

Naruto wasn't daunted, not in the slightest. He had just achieved his first successful attempt at attaching his chakra to solid material, and it opened up endless doors for him.

You see, Naruto had thought of this theory a month ago, in which he had asked himself a simple chakra. Why couldn't shinobi control their chakra outside of their bodies. To the blonde, it seemed as if it was just used as sort of like a one off trade for jutsus. Give up X amount of chakra, and Effect Y will happen. For example, Naruto had seen a jounin perform a jutsu in which he blew a large fireball at a target in front of him, during one of his moments hiding out in the training fields after a particularly persistent group of people had been chasing him. To him, it seemed to be unmindful of the potential attacks the shinobi could have used.

Naruto's face suddenly split into an impossible grin:

"_Homing Fireballs for the win!"_

And so, Naruto had a theory, that if a shinobi could control their chakra outside of their bodies, they would have no need of jutsus, as they could just use their chakra and manipulate it to their will.

Of course, it had sounded a lot easier to do in his head, and was infinitely more difficult to put into practice.

Naruto had actually built on his original idea, with a small, errant thought that had drifted into his head one day, and made him fall to the ground in sheer excitement. That thought was that, If he can manipulate his chakra outside of his body, couldn't he just use it to drag stuff like water and earth around instead of being forced to learn elemental jutsus.

_"Well," _Naruto thought, looking at the pile of earth in front of him, "_I'm gonna need a lot more practice with it."S_

Then Naruto pumped a fist into the air with a joyful shout.

"This is so EPIC!"

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"Are you sure your information is accurate?"

"Yes Hokage-sama, I verified the information personally before presenting it to you. "

Sarutobi remained still, in spite of the metaphorical blow he had just taken. It would not do to show turmoil in front of subordinates after all.

"Very well Cat, you are dismissed. Enjoy the rest of your day."

Cat was a member of ANBU, an elite unit that had 2 primary functions. First and foremost, to act as the Hokage's bodyguard. Secondly, ANBU were tasked with protecting Konoha's interests around the elemental countries. This distilled down into being sent on unofficial missions into foreign countries to perform acts of _questionable _integrity. Each member of ANBU wore a mask, that was rotated on a daily basis. The masks were used for protection of their identity, in order to prevent corruption and outside influences from taking root in the ANBU. While Cat was currently wearing a mask depicting a cat, tomorrow that member could be wearing a mask depicting a dog. This helped in keeping members' identities secret.

"Thank you Hokage-sama." With that, the ANBU known today as Cat, left in a flicker of movement, leaving behind no trace of their presence.

Immediately the Hokage sagged back in his seat, running one hand wearily over his tired eyes, while the other hand fumbled about in his robes for his trusty pipe. For a few minutes he busied himself with preparing the pipe to be smoked. His deft, experienced hands rubbed the tobacco between his fingers, allowing air to enter the mixture of leaves, before gently placing it into the pipe, and pressing it down with just the right amount of pressure so that the pipe will be able to smoke perfectly. He let a small flame sprout from his finger in order to light it.

However, soon the pipe was lit and in his mouth, and he could no longer put off thinking about the news his agent had told him.

His ANBU, which he had placed to follow his once most trusted friends, and ,more recently, biggest opposers in the council, Koharu and Homura, had observed a clandestine meeting taking place in the woods outside of Konoha. If it was just the two of them, the Hokage could've let it go, and dismissed it as a secret project of some sort, but that was a foregone conclusion due to the presence of the third member of this meeting.

Danzo Shimura, once contender for the position of Third Hokage, and the man who dealt in shadowy secrets and lies. Danzo was the Hokage's head of espionage, and had produced some of the best spies and undercover agents that Hiruzen had ever seen.

He had contributed much to the stability and superiority of Konoha, and was Konoha's most reliable weapon. Or perhaps he once was.

In recent years, Danzo had become less focused on his duties and had become more secretive and distrustful of those around him.

Sarutobi had hoped it was his age catching up to him, and not something more dastardly.

No, there was only one reason why those three felt the need to meet in secret, far from any watchful eyes, and it wasn't to discuss gardening tips.

They intended to make him retire…_forcibly._

Hiruzen puffed out a few smoke circles from his pipe.

He had suspicions of Koharu and Homura. He had long thought that they were up to something. His mind flashed back to their childhood, to a time when they were the good guys, Iwa were the bad guys, and the future held so much promise.

Of course, their genin team had split fairly quick with Sarutobi's meteoric rise through the ranks. Sarutobi's star had been bright, and he had unknowingly cast his teammates in darkness, while he had been picked to be trained by both the First and Second Hokages, eventually taking the mantle of Hokage himself. By the time he had realised what he had done to them, the damage was irreversible.

He had suspicions, but it still cut him deep to know that despite everything they had done together, they were now actively plotting to murder him behind his back.

Sarutobi spent a few more moments deep in thought, mostly reminiscing, before abruptly straightening and returning to his duty. He was the Hokage, and treason against your Hokage is _treason against your Hokage._ The punishment for that crime was the same for all transgressors, regardless of their influence or wealth. Death would be their punishment.

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The next day dawned bright and early, the sun's rays bathing Konoha in its light and spreading cheer throughout the village. One particular ray, just going about its business, raying down upon everyone with its bright rays of sunshine, was making its past way one particular window, when it noticed someone still sleeping in bed. Curious, for this ray was a young ray, and was not used to the idea of sleeping in, the sun ray made its way inside the room, via the window, and attempted to rouse the blonde boy from his slumber. However it was for naught, as, despite shining directly into the boy's face, he wouldn't wake up.

Nodding to itself, the ray condensed itself into the form of a human hand, palm spread open, before delivering a swift, firm slap to the young boy's cheek, before quickly escaping through the window.

"Huh…Wha…Ugh" Naruto had awoken, and he was completely incoherent.

"Agh, why does my cheek hurt so much?" Naruto was really confused. He had been having a nice dream, he had managed to disguise himself as a girl with the use of his Sexy Jutsu, and had been taking in the heavenly sights, thinking himself the luckiest man in the world, when he had lost concentration and reverted back into his true form. One of the women, Mrs. Double D he had named her, had noticed his slip up, and had proceeded to slap him on his cheek, at which point he had woken up, cheek in pain.

"Weird." Naruto noted to himself, before his gaze flickered over to his alarm clock, noticing the time.

"Crap! I'm gonna be late for the exam!" Naruto blurred out of his bed, before dashing about his apartment, an apple in his mouth, with his clothes half on, and pyjamas half off.

Hurriedly finishing off the apple, before grabbing another, he tore out of the apartment and made with all haste to the academy.

* * *

**And that's a wrap people.**

**In this chapter we introduce the other rookies, and I spent time here trying to get each rookie's characterization spot on, while giving a bit of background information for each, just in case anyone was not familiar with them.**

**Let me know how it went.**

**Also I will be starting a review response system, in which I reply to everyone's reviews, and answer any questions/ideas they have.**

**So without further ado, I present to you, The REVIEW RESPONSE:**

Review Response:

**_Review from LuxEterna1:_****_  
_****well i think its great and if it werent so cliche it wouldnt be so funny (though it should be a sweatdrop forming on the stone not a tear) and if you continue that way maybe you should add humor as a tag and if you wanted to could probably base/enhance his fighting style with those "chakra explosions" and add pyro to his titles as prankster and thief and/or have ibiki help him create/ teach him a style of needling out information with sipmly being anoying? (plenty of chances for humor in both cases)**

**_Response to LuxEterna1:_****_  
_**_Thank you for the complement, I actually added quite a lot of humour in this chapter, but I want the story to be slightly more serious, so I was using the chapter as a sort of limit finding chapter where I can see how people like it. This lets me know how much I can put in when I do more humour oriented chapters in the future.  
I like your idea of Chakra explosions, and I actually gave serious thought to including it in the story, but I ultimately decided it would be too overpowered. Massive rock coming straight at you? Explode through it. Massive tidal wave coming straight at you? Explode through it. Massive anything?_

_You get the idea.  
Thank you for your review._

**_Review from OKBDZ:_**  
**humor is good. The ridiculous and grotesque by conre are too. This gives the impression of reading a fiction, not serious, just a "delirium".  
Otherwise good start in when the rest!**

**_Response to OKBDZ:_****_  
_**_Thanks for your complement, and stay tuned the rest is on the way :D I do hope that this foc is taken seriously, that is my aim._

_Next chapter will be up tomorrow. Thank you for your review._

**_Review from Guest:_**

**I enjoyed the humour in this chapter, especially the destruction of Kakashi's book and the dream sequence of the Hokage. Gai is obviously a difficult character to get just right, and though I thought you did him pretty well (his revival of spirits via airborne palisade was a highlight), the interjection of that flashback didn't seem connected or relevant and so was more like being blatantly offered comedy as opposed to finding it along the way. Not forced by any means, but not natural. More generally I very much like the narrative and style, and though of course it's too early for comments on plot, they be some tasty developments right there. One question: where's Ino?**

**_Response to Guest:_**

_I'm glad you enjoyed the humour, and I did try to get both Kakashi's and Gai's characters somewhat like they are in the manga, I'm glad that I had some success with that. The falling fence was somewhat similar to me in real life, in which my friend lobbed a pen at me while I was slightly upset. Apply Gai to that situation, and everything quickly escalates. :D_

_Plot will BLOW YOUR MIND. Well, I hope it will, I think it's different enough that it stands on its own, but not so far removed that I may as well be writing a random novel._

_Ino will be making an appearance, be warned it's not a love at first sight sort of thing, it will take time for the relationship to build. They won't suddenly be married by chapter 5._

_Thank you for the review._

**_Review from gento70:_**

**Oooo..I saw the fic that you based this off of. The fic has been abandoned, so nobody can complain. Good to see a re-start.**

**_Response to gento70:_**

_I tried to make it original, and I haven't based the fic off of anything that I am aware of, although I recognize that there are so many Naruto fics that it's difficult to get a truly original start._

_Thank you for your review._

**_Review from Savidge-Hokage:_**

**good use of humor, hope you update soon, and that you start to introduce the other rookies soon**

**_Response to Savidge-Hokage:_**

_Thanks for your review, and don't worry, the rest of the rookies next chapter._

**_Review from ShikaInoInuKikIchiHime36:_**

**Continue!**

**_Response to ShikaInoInuKikIchiHime36:_**

_I will! Thanks for reviewing._

**_Review from LuxEterna1:_**

**interresting story so far  
keep going**

**_Response to LuxEterna1:_**

_:D Double review! Thanks Lux, and I plan to keep going don't worry._

As always, don't forget to review, and let me know what you think of this chapter.

I have a few questions for you guys, answer them in the review.

Was the rookie's characters done right, was one in particular very good or very bad, and did I let everyone have some screen time in that scene?

Was the Sandaime's uncovering of the betrayal portrayed realistically, and did I give a sense of remorse but ultimately determination?

Was the chapter good?

Till next time folks :D

REVIEW


	4. The Genin Exam

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

"Talking"

_"Thinking"_

"**Demon talking"**

**_"Demon thinking"_**

* * *

The Genin Exam

_Konoha Academy_

Naruto darted through the door, just before Iruka managed to shut. Shooting the irate teacher a smile, Naruto made his way into the class and found a seat next to Ino.

"What made you so late, idiot?" Ino queried, sounding slightly curious.

"What's with the attitude Ino? I haven't done anything to you!" Naruto said indignantly. Really, who was this bitch to call him an idiot for no reason?

Ino turned to Naruto with a deadpan expression on her face. "You exist." She said monotonously.

Naruto slapped a hand to his heart, "Ah Ino, that cut me real deep. Anyway, to answer your question I was sleeping."

"Sleeping in, on exam day! Are you retarded?"

"No, my alarm clock is broken so it's hard for me to wake up on time, and why do you care anyway?" Naruto tried defending himself.

Ino just snorted and returned her attention to Iruka at the front of the class.

"Now then class, the first portion of the Genin exam consists of a one on one taijutsu spar with me or my assistant Mizuki." Here Iruka motioned to a silver-haired man, wearing a leaf forehead protector and a chunin flak jacket, standing in the corner. "You will be marked on 3 categories, and they are as follows: Judgement, Form and Variety. Each of them is self-explanatory, so keep them in mind during your spar. Now then, everyone in the class whose family names begin with A – M line up to in front of me, while the rest will line up for Mizuki. When I call your name you will enter the room in which your teacher is located."

The class obediently shuffled into their lines, divided alphabetically.

* * *

First up was Aburame Shino, who took a tightly controlled stance with his hands by his sides and ready to react at a moment's notice opposite Iruka. Iruka made the first move, launching forward in a textbook thrust kick to Shino's midsection, who countered by turning to his side, allowing to kick to fly in front of his chest, and attempting to punch Iruka's left shoulder, which was the closest body part to him.

Iruka noticed the move and reached out with a hand, grabbing the incoming punch and twisting it around, before retracting his earlier kick, smashing into Shino's leg from behind. This action continued on and was converted into a throw by Iruka, causing Shino to land flat on his back. Shino grunted in pain, but stood back up, and resumed his stance.

Iruka waited for Shino to make the first move this time, having already assessed his defensive capabilities. Shino narrowed his eyes behind his glasses, before rushing forward. Before making contact, Shino dropped down into a textbook leg sweep, prompting Iruka to jump over it. Expecting this, he surged up from the ground; going for a two handed strike to Iruka's midsection while the teacher was airborne.

Iruka brought his hands up to block Shino's thrust, allowing it to launch him away.

Iruka landed on his feet a short distance away, before bringing his hands up to stop Shino, who grinded to a halt from where he was charging towards Iruka.

"That's enough; I have assessed both your defensive and offensive capabilities, and have reached a decision regarding your taijutsu prowess. Return to your seat, and you may relax until the next portion.

* * *

Nara Shikamaru faced up to Mizuki, who was beckoning him forward with one of his hands. Shikamaru's mind was whirling through different scenarios, entire plans of attack considered and eliminated within seconds. Abruptly, he stopped, carefully combing through this last plan he had just formed. Ironing out the details and ridding it of chance, Shikamaru nodded with a sigh, before preparing to face Mizuki.

He ran forward, his body language screaming that he was going for a leg sweep, something Mizuki anticipated. The silver haired Chunin hopped into the air, aiming to counter the shadow user with a kick to the face. Shikamaru, using the leg he was crouching down on in preparation for the leg sweep, suddenly straightened the leg and jumped into the air, changing his attack into a jumping kick.

Mizuki was surprised by the change, but easily took it into stride, grabbing the boy's leg in mid-air and swinging him around. Shikamaru was prepared for this possibility however, and lashed out with his other foot as the instructor grabbed his leg, scoring a direct hit on the offending arm. However, he did not expect Mizuki to maintain his grip on his leg, and complete his swing, tossing him around like a ragdoll into the wall of the classroom.

Slightly disoriented, Shikamaru quickly returned to his feet, unprepared for a charging Mizuki. The teacher breezed past a feeble block from Shikamaru, dodging the hasty counter punch from Shikamaru, before scoring a direct blow on the young ninja's arm.

Shikamaru's eyes widened, although Mizuki had pulled his blow that punch had still hurt.

Mizuki noticed that Shikamaru was in pain, before calling out to stop the fight.

"Well done Shikamaru, return to your seat and wait for the next portion of the exam."

Shikamaru did as he was told, grumbling and rubbing his shoulder as he went back.

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto stepped up opposite Mizuki, face determined and his body tensed. Upon noticing the blond container, Mizuki smirk turned slightly sadistic and his eyes gained a bloodthirsty glint within them. He was looking forward to this 'test'.

Mizuki opened the salvo with a well-placed punch that connected directly with Naruto's chest, instantly winding him and propelling him back a fair ways. Naruto groaned slightly, before shooting a glare Mizuki's way.

"_He wants to play rough does he? Well, I'll show him!" _Naruto was livid.

He jumped forward, aiming to get in a kick on Mizuki's leg, who responded by blocking the kick with his shin, and then using the same leg to boot Naruto in the face, sending him flying back once more, this time with a little blood.

Naruto stood up again, the flow of blood from his nose visibly slowing, with a snarl on his face. This Chunin was going down!

He abandoned all subtlety, charging forward with a fist cocked back, a shout on his lips. Mizuki snorted at the berserk charge, before launching his right leg forwards, aiming to catch Naruto in the side.

Seeing this, Naruto adjusted his body weight to give him a firm balance, and letting the kick impact, before bringing his left arm down to trap the leg in place, augmenting his strength with a little chakra.

Mizuki's eyes widened in surprise, with him trying and failing to retract his leg. Who knew the demon brat was so _strong!_

Naruto grinned again, with a touch of bloodthirstiness behind his eyes, before charging his right arm, which was still cocked back, with chakra. Sensing the build-up of chakra, Mizuki's struggles grew more desperate, forcing Naruto to up the chakra flow to his left arm in order to keep him there.

Naruto launched his chakra infused arm forwards, aiming to catch Mizuki square in the chest. His aim struck true and Mizuki was launched backwards, blood flying out of his mouth, to impact into the wall, causing it to crack and a slight indentation to form. The teacher slid to the ground, wheezing. Naruto looked on with a satisfied smirk.

But Mizuki wasn't a Chunin for no reason, and he picked himself up before charging at the boy, delivering a punishing series of strikes to the boy, who had not expected him to recover so quickly. Naruto was struck multiple times all over his body, his lip busting, bones creaking, and his head pounding. Despite his valiant defence, Naruto's vision was going dark, and Mizuki didn't look to be letting up any time soon.

Mizuki was grinning sadistically, continuing to rain down blows on the demon container, angry and disgusted at the fact that he had let himself be struck by him. Who was this boy to lay his hands on him? Mizuki's mind was clouded with bloodlust, and he showed no signs of restraint.

BANG!

The door was thrown open, and Iruka stood in the doorway, investigating the cause of the impact on the wall he had heard a little while ago. In a flash, Mizuki jumped off of Naruto, leaving the almost unconscious boy in a sorry state on the floor.

"Mizuki! What do you think you are doing?!" Iruka said angrily.

"Testing his taijutsu." Mizuki was nonchalant, although he was satisfied that had managed to knock the demon container down a peg.

"By beating him unconscious? What possessed you to do such a thing?"

Mizuki shrugged.

Iruka narrowed his eyes; it seems Mizuki was unapologetic for his actions. If he could commit such atrocities against an academy student, then he shouldn't be allowed in the building. Making his mind up, Iruka turned to Mizuki with a grim look on his face.

"Leave this place. You clearly cannot be trusted around kids, and rest assured that this matter will be brought up before the Hokage."

Mizuki didn't care, and left the room through the window with a small grin on his face. "_I wouldn't be so sure, the Hokage's time is almost over, and then, no one will stop me from killing that waste of air."_

Iruka watched him go with a stern expression on his face, before turning around to tend to Naruto, only to find the blonde standing up, with a wide grin on his face, and not a mark on his body. Even the nose he could've sworn was broken looked just fine.

"Are you okay Naruto?" Iruka said, with slight concern bleeding into his tone.

"Yeah I'm fine Iruka-sensei. It wasn't that bad, honestly. Besides, I was just waiting for the right moment to strike." Naruto seemed to be fine, although one could never tell with the blonde, as he had grown adept at hiding his emotions and presenting a happy façade to the world.

"Okay…" Iruka's tone was doubtful but he wasn't gonna pry too much, despite what his teacher instincts were telling him.

Allowing Naruto to exit the room, and re-join the class, Iruka frowned to himself, before shaking himself and calling forward the next student.

"Yamanaka Ino"

* * *

Ino started at hearing her name. She was always last to go in alphabetical formations due to her name beginning with a Y, so she had taken the opportunity to doze off lightly, resting up.

On her way to the room, she passed by Uzumaki Naruto, who was leaving the same room. He gave her a wide grin as she passed by, to which she only frowned, causing him to fake looking sad. However she wasn't frowning at him, rather she was frowning at the small specks of blood she could make out on his white t-shirt, which she was certain had not been there before.

She looked worryingly at the door. She hoped the teacher wasn't too rough with her.

Gathering her courage, she stepped through the doorway, mildly surprised at seeing Iruka when she had been expecting Mizuki.

"Where's your assistant? Wasn't he meant to be grading me?" Ino asked curiously, even as she began some slight warm up stretches.

Iruka's stony expression, if possible, grew even stonier, and he replied frostily, "Mizuki has taken ill, and had to be sent home to recuperate. I will be assessing you instead."

Accepting the answer at face value, Ino prepared to face her teacher in taijutsu.

Ino began first, hoping to catch him off guard, and charged forward to execute a textbook leg sweep. Iruka merely raised one foot over the sweep, and stomped down, just missing Ino's hastily retreating leg. Seeing the failure of her previous tactic, Ino instead attempted a quick jab, trying to force a response.

The response came in the form of a counter punch, which knocked her punch out of the way on course with her face. Seeing this Ino smiled, before using her redirected arm to grab onto the incoming appendage. Using it as leverage, she coiled her legs around the appendage, attempting to twist it.

Iruka allowed her to complete her move, and rolled with the twist, simultaneously dropping to the floor.

The two were now both lying on the floor, with Ino wrapped around her teacher's arm in a classic arm bar, attempting to force a surrender. Iruka, wincing at the slight pain from the submission technique, instead twisted his arm the other way with strength, dislodging Ino's grip, and allowing him to extract his arm from the vice. Once he was free, he grabbed the girl, who was attempting to rise, and threw her using a standard wrestling throw, slamming her into the ground once more.

Ino felt her breath leave her suddenly, and held a hand to her chest gulping in big gasps of air.

Iruka, noticing this, stopped the exercise and reached out his hand for the girl to grab, which she did gratefully, using it to help her rise.

Iruka gave her a small smile. "Not bad Ino, return to your seat and prepare for the next part of the test."

Ino, still breathing heavily, exited the room, returning to her seat near Naruto.

"How did it go?" Ino swivelled to face the other blonde, debating whether to answer him or not.

"Not bad, I managed to lock him into a submission technique, trying to force him to surrender, but it didn't work. Instead he just brute forced his way out, and then threw me on the floor. If I was a bit stronger, I could've held the submission, and maybe even won the spar." Ino said thoughtfully, she honestly she had him for a few seconds.

"Eh? I don't think so, I mean Iruka probably would've done something complicated to get out if he couldn't just rip his arm free, I mean he is a chunin, and they do learn that type of stuff from their Jounin senseis." Naruto responded.

Flushing but unwilling that he had a point; Ino retorted "Oh yeah, well how did your one go, I bet you got creamed!"

Naruto shrugged "He got me pretty good, but I managed to get him with a direct blow as well, so I'm not too bothered by it, but it did show me that I'm gonna have to do some serious work on my physical conditioning. Don't worry though, I was just unprepared, next time there's no way that he'll be able to get me." By the end of the speech, Naruto was waving his hands through the air animatedly.

Ino had a hint of a smile on her features, amused at his silly antics.

"Yeah right, tough guy"

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

_Hokage's Office_

Meanwhile, the Hokage was currently in a meeting in the Hokage's office, with one of his trusted jounin. This jounin was Mitarashi Anko, former apprentice of Orochimaru, one of the Three Legendary Sannin, and current Snake Mistress of Konoha. Anko was a proud individual, unashamed of herself, whether in body or in mind. As a result, her dress consisted of an open trench coat that reached down to her ankles, revealing an enticing fishnet bodysuit beneath, leaving nothing to the imagination. She wore a pair of shin protectors on her calves, sown into her standard issue shinobi boots. Upon her forehead was a Leaf forehead protector, covered by the bangs of her hair, which was done up to form a splay of spiky hair from the back of her head.

Currently, she was standing ramrod straight, all of her attention focused on her Hokage, to whom she owed so much. When her former sensei, Orochimaru, had turned traitor, many had thought her to be in league with him, judging by their close relationship. Popular opinion had placed her as some sort of double agent, collecting all the intel she could and waiting to re-join her master. Many in the highest places in Konoha had wanted her silenced, either by incarceration or death, and it was only the intervention of the Third Hokage that had saved her from a worse fate.

Despite that, she was ostracized within the village. All of her old friends had left her, claiming that it was bad to be seen with her. Virtually overnight, Anko had lost everyone. Her sensei, who she had been utterly devoted to, her friends and her reputation.

The Hokage had taken her in, and looked after her for a month or so after the incident, until she had pulled herself together and dried her tears, ready to face the world once more.

She would never forget that, and would walk headfirst into a raging inferno if he had commanded her to.

"I have a mission for you." The Hokage's face was stern and unyielding, betraying nothing of the tumultuous emotions inside.

"It will not be recorded in the mission records as it is of utmost secrecy. Regardless, you will receive S-rank pay for it, but I cannot divulge the mission details until you choose to accept. However, I will let you know now, that if you were to be compromised while carrying out this mission, I will deny all affiliation to you, and cast you out. Knowing this, will you accept?"

Anko didn't even hesitate. "Of course Hokage-sama."

The Hokage let out a small smile, before launching into the mission details.

As the Hokage laid out the mission and the connected details, Anko's eyes widened and she let out a small gasp, but she soon settled into a small, bloodthirsty smirk, eager to get this mission started, and thankful that the Hokage trusted her enough to give her this mission.

After all, she was the best assassination expert in Konoha, and this mission called for the best.

With a quick "It will be done, Lord Hokage", she flickered out of the office, leaving the aging Sarutobi in solitude once again.

He delved into his thoughts, wondering if he had made the right choice.

He frowned; He hoped young Anko proved to be up to the task, for he could trust no one else.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

_Konoha Academy_

Iruka walked back into the classroom, taking in the unruly students before calling for silence.

Once the class had died down into silence, Iruka continued with what he had to say.

"That concludes the taijutsu portion of the exam. Overall, I was very impressed with the level shown, and I am proud that you have all progressed so nicely."

Inside however he was thinking the opposite. "_Bullshit. All of these kids are from major clans, and they all used their clan style over the academy style, In fact I think some of them didn't even bother to learn it."_

Outside, he progressed with his speech.

"The next portion will be the genjutsu portion of the exam. A genjutsu will be placed on an object within this room. You will all line up outside, and enter one by one when called. You have 3 minutes to examine the room to your heart's content, at which point I will ask you where the genjutsu was, and what object it was placed on. Does everyone understand?"

He was treated to a wide spread of determined glances in the room, and he nodded to himself in satisfaction. Looking over the pupils again, he smiled.

"Right then, everyone OUT!" The increased volume shocked the pupils into action, and they all rose to leave the room in an orderly fashion.

They all lined up outside in a random order, as the teacher hadn't specified what order they would be in. By misfortune, Shikamaru found himself at the front, mainly due to him being too lazy to protest, and no one else wanting to be the first one in.

Sighing, he resigned himself to being the first one in. Hearing the call from Iruka to come in, Shikamaru muttered to himself "Troublesome….", before stepping through the door to come face to face with…

A perfectly ordinary room. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, and started taking in details about various objects in the room, trying to identify the genjutsu.

The teacher's desk.  
_Wooden. Mahogany, minute scratches over the surface showing wear and tear, Large scratch in front right leg.  
_GENUINE.

The window.  
_Large, 2 metres high by 3 metres across, segmented into 3 separate panes. Paint peeling on bottom right corner, revealing pale beech wood beneath.  
_GENUINE.

The Walls.  
_Normal dimensions, yellow, with a touch of green. One side was dotted with various maps and diagrams depicting essential ninja information.  
GENU- Wait! That map looks different._

Mentally overlaying his memory of the wall with the version he could see now, he spotted the genjutsu. The map, which should depict the elemental countries, instead depicted a close up of Fire Country.

Confident that he had found the right object, Shikamaru settled down to take a nap, but not before settling his gaze on a curious indentation he could see in the carpet, near the entrance to the room.

Snorting slightly, he rested his hands on his head, and silently counted down the remaining time.

When the time finished, Shikamaru was alerted by the voice of Iruka.

"Well?" Iruka sounded as if he already expected Shikamaru to pass.

"The map on the wall, and there was another genjutsu on an object near the door."

Iruka frowned, "I only cast one genjutsu."

"Oh sorry, I assumed that you were part of the test, as you were an object under a genjutsu."

Iruka got a wry smile on his face, Shikamaru was a devious little bugger.

"Right, go and wait outside in the corridor. Be warned that the object will change so there is no use warning your classmates."

Iruka watched the shadow user leave, before calling in the next one.

* * *

Ino walked in next. She was fed up of always being last, and wanted to be first for once. Stupid family name of hers.

Entering, she immediately took a seat in her usual spot, attempting to try and compare the image to her memories. However nothing immediately jumped out at her. Disheartened, as her first strategy had failed, she tried again, only this time with a fine tooth comb.

Comparing various items to what she could remember, as well as trying to spot any discrepancies, Ino failed to notice anything.

She sighed, and sat back in her chair, her gaze drifting out to the window, lost in thought.

"_Wait a second! That window only has two panes of glass, when there should be three." _

Hurrying out of her chair, she ran over to inspect the offending window, and there was no mistaking it. This close she could easily sense the minute amount of chakra powering the genjutsu, only confirming her suspicions.

"Well?" The voice came from directly behind her.

With a small squeak, Ino whirled around, before lightly blushing when she noticed Iruka's expectant gaze.

"The window, two panes instead of three." Ino sounded confident.

"Well done, now step outside and send in the next one."

Ino cheered to herself in her mind. She was lucky she spends so much time staring out of that window, that was a close one.

* * *

Aburame Shino was up next, his face betraying no nervousness or tension. Entering the room he immediately started to surreptitiously spread out his Kikai. Making a show of checking around the room, he waited for feedback from his Kikai.

Straightening up, he suddenly made his way over to the teacher's desk, to where his family stated that there was a build up of chakra. Examining the desk, he noticed that it was in perfect condition, as if it was made yesterday. Also, it seemed to be made of Oak, when he could clearly remember the desk being Mahogany.

It was settled then, the desk was the object. He had found it, and was certain of its legitimacy. Although, to be certain, he continued his perusal of the room. Finding out that the desk was not the correct object would be…aggravating to say the least.

Noticing Iruka unveiling himself, he turned towards the teacher, intoning the words:

"The desk."

Iruka closed his mouth, before opening it once again to ask for an explanation.

Shino replied "Yours is Mahogany, and has been there for approximately 8 months. That desk is Oak, and looks to have been constructed very recently."

Iruka smiled "Well done Shino. Please send in the next candidate."

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto stepped into the room, seemingly at a loss for what to do, prompting a hidden Iruka to quietly sigh to himself.

He watched, curious, as Naruto just stood there, wondering what he was trying to do. It wasn't until he felt the wave of chakra pass over him that he understood. Iruka's mouth dropped open, Naruto just pulled an ingenious move.

Indeed, Naruto had, for during his Chakra experiments, he noticed that when two foreign Chakras collide, each tries to resist the other. He had first noticed after attempting to run up a merchant in an attempt to escape. He had to insert a tiny bit of extra chakra in order to achieve the same effect.

He hadn't thought on it at the time, focused on escape, but upon reflection, he had deduced that there must be some sort of destructive interference between chakras, although it seemed that one chakra could overpower the other if there was a larger quantity.

Using this knowledge, Naruto sent out a wave of chakra through the room, using his advanced connection to his own chakra, to search for any objects that gave off resistance. This would most likely be because of a genjutsu.

He immediately picked out two large spots of resistance. One was near the door, although it seemd to be a hiding genjutsu, as he couldn't notice anything there, while the other spot was around the teacher's chair. Bounding up to take a closer look, Naruto immediately snorted. He had been planting all manner of items stuff on Iruka's chair for months. This clearly wasn't the right chair, it wasn't even the right colour. He should know, he was responsible for the off-white colour of the original chair.

Turning around to face the other spot of resistance, which had a vaguely similar feeling to the chair, Naruto shouted:

"Oi Iruka-sensei! I found your genjutsu, It's around the chair. It's clearly the wrong one, and I'm pretty sure you haven't bought another one recently. Man, you need to work on your genjutsu skils." Naruto had a smug grin on his face.

Dropping his technique, the teacher glowered at Naruto.

"You're supposed to wait for the time limit Naruto, to keep things fair."

"But I found it already, I can't be bothered to wait the rest of the time. It's not my fault if those other wannabes aren't as awesome as me."

Iruka just sighed to himself.

"Go outside Naruto, and send in the next one."

* * *

Hinata Hyuuga timidly padded into the room, and activated her Byakugan. A bloodline ability that allows her to see all forms of Chakra in 360 degree vision.

Locating the genjutsu on the door she stepped through, she noticed that the room number had changed.

Iruka, noticing that she had found the genjutsu straight away, broke cover to congratulate her and send her out.

_"I still had to test her, even though she was pretty much guaranteed to pass the genjutsu portion."_

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke crept into the room, eyes circling the area and brain whirling. Iruka would be harsh on the academy students, as they were trying to become shinobi, and this test was meant to weed out the weak.

Therefore the genjutsu would be small and unobtrusive, as well as easily missed. It stands to reason that if they could notice this genjutsu, they should be able to notice other, more obvious genjutsu.

That ruled out all of the big changes such as different chairs or new items.

As Sasuke crept around the room, taking extra care to assess all of the objects passed on his way, he silently cursed to himself.

"_The Sharingan would enable me to pass this mockery in a second."_

The Sharingan allowed the members of the Uchiha clan, or those that unlock it, to see and sense chakra around the environment, and bestows the user with an advanced sense of premonition. Often times, reading the flow of battle, and predicting what the opponent would do before they eve begin to do it. It also allowed them to copy and use Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu techniques from others, gaining the results without any of the hard work.

Sasuke shook himself out of his thoughts, and continued his assessment of the room. It was not until he passed his usual seat that he located it. Staring at his desk, he noticed a pen that he had seemingly left behind. Or he would've if it was his pen.

Concentrating on it, he slowly passed his hand over to pick it up, not surprised in the least when his hand passed through it without resistance.7

Satisfied, he waited out the time limit.

"Where is my genjutsu?" Iruka asked once the time limit was up.

"Over that desk, creating a fake pen." Was the short and concise answer from the broody boy.

"Very well, send in the next one."

* * *

Sakura came in next, wringing her hands slightly nervously, and looking a tad unsure of what to do.

She looked as if she was hyperventilating, before visibly calming herself down and going through her impressively astute mind to find the answer.

"_Think Sakura, sensei said there was a genjutsu over one object in this room. Now what do I know about genjutsu. Genjutsu techniques manipulate the flow of chakra in the victim's brain, thus causing a disruption in their senses. To break the genjutsu, the ninja needs to stop the flow of chakra in their body, and then apply an even stronger power to disrupt the flow of the caster's chakra. This can also be done by an unaffected ninja by applying a sudden surge of chakra into the affected person. _

_But that is only for if the genjutsu is affecting a person. This genjutsu is affecting an object, so I can't use Kai to detect it._

_But what if I…."_

Sakura concentrated, her hands forming the boar hand seal, which she found most useful for channeling her chakra. She slowly, and with great effort, expanded her chakra to fill the room.

Unlike Naruto's technique, in which he is able to sink so much chakra that the effect is almost tangible, Sakura's chakra was almost non-existent, and required great concentration for her to keep a track of. Sweating bullets, she desperately tried to keep the technique up.

There! Gratefully, she let go, allowing her chakra to dissipate. Sinking to the floor like a rock, she spent a few moments collecting herself and gulping air into her lungs.

When she felt she could, she rose from her sitting position and made her way to the blackboard, which she could now see was entirely the wrong size from normal, and was a different colour.

Iruka dropped down from his hiding place in the ceiling, and got the pinkette's attention.

"Did you find it Sakura?"

"Yes Sensei, the blackboard is the wrong size, and a different colour from normal."

"Well done Sakura, that just leaves Chouji and Kiba. Send one of them in."

"Hai Sensei." As Sakura turned to leave, Iruka was giving her a measured look, that went unnoticed by the student.

* * *

Chouji stepped in, calm and lightly snacking on a bag of crisps. He knew how to detect genjutsu, his dad had taught him the basics. Quickly scanning the room, he attempted to channel his best friend Shikamaru. It helped him think.

Looking around slowly, he walked through the room, attempting to compare it with the same journey he had conducted hundreds of times before. His keen eyes soon found the genjutsu, and he laughed to himself when he saw it. Looking down at his feet, he took in the smooth wood providing him with support, and then experimentally took a step forward. He did not hear the accompanying _click _that would usually be present with wood flooring.

Reaching down to actually touch the floor resulted in the feeling of coarse fur beneath, of what should be a carpet. He should know, he had to clean crisp fragments out of it a few times after he had made too much of a mess.

He sat down, and waited for Iruka to show up, which he did a minute later.

Without a word, Iruka motioned to Chouji. Chouji in turn pointed at the floor, causing Iruka to nod and usher him out.

* * *

Inuzuka Kiba was the last academy student to be tested, something that he didn't mind. The more knowledge he could sponge off of the others before his turn, the better. Walking in, Kiba took a long look at the room, before closing his eyes and inhaling deeply. His finely honed olfactory senses immediately got to work organizing and cataloguing the variety of scents.

With practiced ease he blocked out the scents of his classmates first, they weren't part of the test. Then he blocked out individual scents on a case by case basis.

His nose told him the desk was mahogany, he confirmed it and then ignored it. Other objects were similarly scrutinized and dismissed.

In time, Kiba had bounded through almost every item in the class and he was becoming slightly desperate.

"_Crap! I've only got 45 seconds left, at this rate I'll fail."_ Was the panicked thought running through his mind.

Giving up, he threw his hands in the air despondently, as if beseeching divine intervention.

He did not expect to see a completely different roof then he was used to, as this one seemed rectangular and flat, when he knew for a fact it should be square and raised. Saying a quick thanks, Kiba laughed joyously and enthusiastically counted down the remaining 30 seconds out loud.

"3, 2, 1…"

"0" The voice came from directly behind him, but Kiba had tracked his scent there at least 5 seconds ago. Whirling around, he thust his arm into the air, fingers outstretched, pointing at the roof.

"The roof is _completely _wrong sensei, that was way too obvious."

Iruka sighed to himself. Kiba and Naruto both got on his nerves too often.

"Okay Kiba, well done, Now could you please call everyone else inside."

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Anko crept through the compound, body crouched low and covered in darkness. She had wasted no time in obeying the Hokage's order. He had stressed the urgency needed, and she had responded.

Looking around, she found herself in a maze like compound, corridors branching this way and that, and some even seeming to loop around on themselves to lead back the way they came. Anko couldn't help but admire the structural planning that must have been required. Most shinobi would be utterly lost down here, waiting for their inevitable doom, in the form of starvation or in the form of the compound's occupants, to arrive.

"Left" A small hissing voice sounded in her ear. Anko heeded the directions from the small black snake on her shoulder. The prey could not hide from the ultimate predator after all, no matter what tricks they had up their sleeve.

Despite her admiration, she cursed softly still. This wasn't the way she worked, going in half-assed and unprepared. She liked to use the time she had, scoping out the place and forming approach and escape routes through months of surveillance and planning.

It was why she was one of Konoha's foremost assassination experts after all, and it was how she had earned a near perfect assassination record. Of course, no one but the Hokage knew about her assassination prowess. To compromise the identity of an assassin was almost surely a death sentence, as the victim's family and friends now had a target.

In the best case scenario, she would never be able to return to being an assassin, as every village would be instantly wary of her presence.

No, Anko did not like going in unprepared, but her Hokage had asked her to.

And she would do _anything_ for Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Her mind returned to the task at hand, creeping through the barren hallway. She was on guard, and found it most curious that she had not seen a single guard or patrol group in the last 10 minutes. Edging forward, her ears caught a faint commotion from up ahead. She was tempted to speed up, but her tight self-control, instilled by rigorous training, won out. Maintaining her stealthy pace, she edged forward, until she spied the source of the noise.

She had emerged on a high ledge into a massive cavern, the ceiling stretching at least 50 metres up, and the floor covering the area as large as a few training grounds put together. There were many exits she could see, dotted around the cavern, providing numerous routes of escape. The walls were smoothed out, as if by hand or a particularly skilled earth jutsu user.

But all of these minute details were not what caught her attention. No. What drew her attention was the large throng of shinobi beneath her, of which she counted at least 300, all focused on a figure raised up on a dais at the front of the cavern. The figure was speaking and waving his arms in extravagant motions at the crowd before him.

Anko narrowed her eyes.

_Target located._

Instantly she put all thoughts of why there this many shinobi down here, and where exactly this was, into the back of her mind. She was now on autopilot, focused on the kill and nothing more. With practiced ease she loaded a blowpipe with a poisonous dart, while palming a few kunai and laying them out on the ground within easy reaching distance.

The blowpipe was special. Covered in seals that performed a range of function, it was her ultimate long distance assassination tool. The seals performed a variety of functions, from completely silencing the tool, to cloaking her in shadows, and one seal even acted as a magnifying glass, distorting the air above the pipe to provide a close up view of the target.

Looking through the seal, she could pick out all of the little details about him. The X shaped scar on his chin, and the bandages covering half of his face. She could see the veins in his neck bulging as he made his grand speech, lips moving frantically and arms waving around.

Shimura Danzo was in her sights, and he was a dead man.

Wrapping her lips around the pipe, she inhaled through her nose and

-suddenly whirled around, blowing the dart at a shinobi who had been running towards her from behind. The dart sank into the ROOT member's neck, killing him almost instantly. The poison ran through his veins, attacking vital organs and shutting them down, leaving him instantly dead.

Although the dart had killed the body, it did not kill the momentum, and the body plowed into Anko, sending them both off of the ledge and directly into the throng below!

Anko desperately tried shooting a snake from her sleeves through the use of her seneijashu, succeeding in wrapping around a stalactite and pulling herself up. Looking down from her new perch, Anko noticed that the crowd had parted around the dead shinobi, who had fallen right into the middle of them, poisonous dart sticking out of his neck. For a moment there was a silence, before Danzo acted.

"FIND THEM!"

With this simple command, the gathered ROOT shinobi scattered, all of them vanishing into the tunnels, starting a compound wide search for the assassin.

5 ROOT shinobi surrounded their leader Danzo, and removed him from the dais, escorting him through an opening that had been hidden to Anko before.

Anko did not dare to breathe, hoping that no one bothered to look up, for she was scarcely hidden, and very visible.

Holding on for a minute, the cavern emptied itself of ROOT, and silence reigned once more. Yet still, Anko held on, not daring to lower herself just yet.

After another minute, Anko dropped onto the raised dais, and immediately crouched down low. Checking her supplies, It revealed that she had left her blowpipe behind as well as most of her kunai.

She only had a spool of ninja wire, 3 kunai and 5 shuriken.

Anko looked up, spotting the passageway Danzo had taken, before narrowing her eyes.

This was going to have to be up close and personal now.

She was looking forward to it.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Iruka called the class to silence.

"Now then, this will be the last portion of the genin exam. It is time to showcase your ninjutsu skills.

The exam will be as follows. On the board of have written 3 different lists, each containing 2 different jutsu. That makes 6 jutsu all together. The candidate must perform one ninjutsu from List A, one from List B, and one from List C.

You may choose which ninjutsu to perform yourselves. Now then, does everyone understand?"

Everyone was too busy staring at the list of ninjutsu to reply, so Iruka took that as a confirmation.

The ninjutsu [1] on the board were:

List A List B List C

Kawarimi Bunshin Henge  
Magen: Narakumi Shunshin Kakuremino

Iruka allowed everyone 2 minutes taking tin the information, before calling them into a side room to perform their ninjutsu in private.

Aburame Shino went first, displaying a perfect Kawarimi with a nearby chair, prompting a nod from the teacher. Shino then created 2 flawless clones of himself, maintaining them enough for Iruka to get a good look, before letting them dissipate. Lastly he transformed into a perfect copy of Iruka himself.

Iruka nodded at the Henge, before sending Shino back into the class.

Time passed quickly, with almost every student opting to perform the same 3 ninjutsu. The notable exceptions were Uzumaki Naruto, who chose to do a Shunshin instead of bunshin with a boisterous whoop, and Haruno Sakura who chose to do the Magen: Narakumi instead of Kawarimi.

Iruka let the last student leave the door, before marking down their scores on his clipboard.

With a proud glance he noticed that everyone of his students had passed the test, and could now be sorted into genin teams. He had high hopes for this generation of Ninja.

Walking out the door, he prepared to give the good news.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Danzo was waiting in his office, surrounded by 5 of his most loyal subordinates. He knew that the assassin would be coming this way soon, the Hokage would not send an amateur. So he spent his time making plans and contingencies to deal with the upcoming battle.

Perking up, his finely tuned chakra senses picked up a presence approaching the door.

"They're outside." The ROOT shinobi stiffened at the sound of their master's voice, before flickering out the door as would a shadow.

There was a scuffle outside, and for a long tense moment all Danzo could hear was the motions of the battle outside. The grunts of exertion, the metallic clang of parried Kunai and the rattling gasps of death. It was a symphony to Danzo's ears, it was what he lived for.

Looking up from where he had closed his eyes in enjoyment, he noticed the shinobi standing before him.

Anko was adorned with blood splatters, her originally black suit turning a dark crimson as it absorbed the life essence.

She stared down at the renegade Elder, who had been named by the Hokage to die. She tensed her hand around the kunai, preparing to finish this contract.

Danzo, slightly surprised that it was Anko who was sent after him, laughed softly, stopping Anko in her tracks.

"I knew Sarutobi would've sent someone good after me, but I didn't know he would send someone _good_ after me." His voice was silky and dark, worming its way through her focused mind to strike deep where she could hear them.

"Look at what you have achieved. You used to be the Snake Whore, scapegoat of Konoha and almost as hated as the demon container. You were alone, as no shinobi could bear to be seen with you."

Anko's mind flashed back to those memories, those times just after Orochimaru had left. It was the hardest time of her life, and suicide had been contemplated more than once.

"Even now, you are still sporting a reputation around Konoha. The sadistic Snake mistress, who would sooner devour you than talk to you. No doubt it was a defence against the whispers and rumours."

It was true, Anko thought, she had become sadistic as a response to her detractors, aiming to to scare them into shutting up.

"But look where you are now. The top assassin in Konoha, and one of the most trusted of Sarutobi's shinobi. It would not surprise me if you were the top assassin in all the elemental nations. Also you are the joint head of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation department. A high position indeed, Sarutobi chose well."

Anko preened under the praise, before snapping out of it, shaking off the genjutsu she had unknowingly been put under, and launching herself at the Elder.

Her first Kunai swipe was parried by the elder, him producing a Kunai to _clang_ against hers. Again she pulled her Kunai back, swiping forward to his midsection, only to be blocked again. She kept trying to stab the elder, coming from all angles and directions, to be annoyingly blocked all the time.

Jumping back and forming seals, she spat out a small fireball, simultaneously sending her snakes through the blaze to strike at the elder.

"Look how fierce you have grown!" The voice came from behind her.

Jerking forwards, she whipped around launching two kunai forwards and leaping into a textbook roundhouse. It was to no avail, as her kunai were dodged, and her kick blocked. Jumping back again, she formed the seals for the hidden mist technique, blanketing the room in Mist and allowing her to collect herself.

"You have become faster." To her right. The snake on her shoulder responded and leaped towards the voice, only to be caught and mercilessly crushed in a strong grip.

Speeding away again, Anko was becoming visibly unnerved. She just could not get a blow to land. This called for more extreme methods.

Biting her fingers, she wiped her blood on her summoning tattoo, calling forth a moderately sized snake that coiled around her, keeping her safe, while it proceed to spray a poisonous mist around the room. The poison spread into every nook and cranny, utterly invasive and absolutely lethal. Anko was kept safe in her cocoon, an eye in the middle of the storm.

"You have become stronger!" Anko whipped around, arm lashing out in instinct..  
- only to be caught in Danzo's bandaged hand! The elder held her hand with a merciless grip, and Anko looked at his face, only to look directly into a spinning, blood red orb. She started screaming at the pain of her hand being crushed.

The Sharingan.

"And now, little snake mistress, you have become mine!"

Anko's vision went dark, and her screams faded.

* * *

**_Author's Notes:_**

Well that was a long one wasn't it?

I sort of sped through the genin exam, as I want to get started on the real meat and 2 veg of the story, although I tried not to be too dismissive.

What did you guys think of the bell test?

Were my characterizations right?

How is the little side story of Anko's capture?

Interesting?

Let me know in the reviews guys, I crave that stuff.

[1] I retrieved all ninjutsu from Naruto wiki.

**Shunshin = Body Flicker** (The Body Flicker Technique is a high-speed movement technique, allowing a ninja to move short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed. To an observer, it appears as if the user has teleported. A puff of smoke is occasionally used to disguise the user's movements. It is accomplished by using chakra to temporarily vitalise the body and move at extreme speeds. The amount of chakra required depends on the overall distance and elevation between the user and the intended destination)

**Kawarimi = Replacement** (With this technique, users replace their own body with some other object, generally with a block of wood, the moment an attack lands. This creates an optical illusion, making the enemy think the attack was successful.)

**Henge = Transformation** (It is typically used to change into people other than oneself, but one also has the ability to change into animals, plants, and even inanimate objects like weapons. This gives this technique an abundance of uses. The transformation of a skilled shinobi will be exactly like the genuine article, so it will be impossible to tell the two apart. On the other hand, a transformation performed by an inexperienced person will have obvious discrepancies.)

**Kakuremino = Cloak of Invisibility**(This technique allows a ninja to take a cloak or a piece of cloth to blend into an object, making them invisible.)

**Bunshin = Clone**(A ninjutsu that creates an intangible copy of one's own body, without any substance. Since the clone itself doesn't have the ability to attack, and thus can only be used to confuse the enemy, it is mainly used in combination with other ninjutsu. It's a basic technique, but depending on one's ingenuity, it can be used effectively. The clones will dissipate when they come into contact with something.)

**Magen: Narakumi = Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing**(This is a genjutsu that reveals the fears that dwell inside people's hearts. Everyone has an image of the one thing they wouldn't want to ever see. This genjutsu is a technique that draws forth such an image from within the heart and has one mistake it for reality)

**REVIEW RESPONSE**

_**Review from OKBDZ:**_

_**Good chapter, although a little short. Good presentation of rookie 9. But I have a feeling that they are alone in the classroom.**_  
_**The humor this time is well determined. I like it.**_  
_**the hokage who goes to finally realize that the balls! And ready to put an end to the old councilors! Finally! This is good news.**_  
_**Capacity with Naruto's chakra? interesting ... to see or it leads.**_  
_**waiting for more. Great job.**_

_**Response to OKBDZ:**_

_Thank you for your compliments. I was tired of reading about the Hokage, leader of the strongest Ninja Village in a world ruled by Ninja, making him the most powerful leader, being constantly portrayed as weak-hearted and soft._

_Naruto's capacity will cause problems for him down the line when he starts trying to contro his chakra more._

_**Review from Seijiri:**_

_**This story is quite refreshing to most of the fics ive read. I really appreciate how you made Sarutobi an actually shinobi instead of a guilt ridden old man with a huge arsenal of jutsu handing naruto everything on a silved platter as repayment to minato and kushina. I also like how you made Sarutobi subtle in the early chapters something that shinobi of his stature should be able to do well.**_

_**Response to Seijiri:**_

_Thanks. I agree that Sarutobi needs to be an actual shinobi, and I tried making it believable that he could not hand Naruto everything, wanting him to grow and figure it out himself. The way to truly learn something is to learn it by yourself. And yes, Sarutobi is, at the end of the day, a shinobi. Shinobi's live in the shadows. It surprises me just how obvious some of them are._

_**Review from SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan**__**:**_

_**awesome you have just given naruto the groundwork to be a elemental jutsu badass**_

_**Response to SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan:**_

_:D Oh yesh!_


	5. The Plan begins to Unravel

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

"Talking"

_"Thinking"_

"**Demon talking"**

**_"Demon thinking"_**

* * *

The Plan

Sarutobi Hiruzen was in his office; early in the morning before the time that any reasonable man could be expected to be at work. He liked to come in early in the morning, it gave him extra time to get started on his paperwork for the day, allowing him to make a sizeable dent before more came in to fill the gap.

It also allowed him to conduct secret mission briefs and debriefings in private without too many unwanted ears and eyes. Although, in a shinobi village, one was never too far away from prying eyes.

For the really sensitive stuff though, the Hokage's office had a built in set of seals that would block all forms of communication outside of the office. Even the very air itself was trapped in the room, meaning that such a seal could only be used for a few hours at the most, before the air inevitably ran out.

The seals were active right now, for this was a very sensitive matter.

"Report." The Hokage's tone was crisp, authoritative and brooked no argument.

"Yes Hokage-sama. I entered the underground ROOT complex in which the target was hiding, and proceeded to make my way through until I came upon a gathering of over 200 ROOT shinobi."

The Hokage did not so much as twitch, even though he was slightly surprised internally.

"_Danzo's little army was not as little as I thought."_

"I attempted to assassinate the target using long range methods, however that failed and alerted the compound, causing the target to retreat into his office. I was forced to attack head on."

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed slightly. Danzo was a superb fighter.

"I managed to subdue the target, before carrying out my contract.

"And there were no…complications?" The Hokage sounded slightly sceptical, after all Danzo was a powerful warrior, even if his talents lay in subterfuge and misdirection.

"No Hokage-sama, I was able to battle him to a standstill, before using a clone to strike from behind when he was unprepared."

That allayed the Hokage's fears. Anko had done extremely well, and had performed to the best of her ability in carrying out this mission. He said as much to the snake assassin.

Before dismissing her, the Hokage asked her one last question.

"Is that all Anko?"

Anko wanted to scream. She wanted to rise up from the floor and tell the Hokage the truth, about how she had failed him. About how he had placed his trust in her and she had been unable to carry the burden on her shoulders. She wanted to say how she was totally and utterly destroyed by Danzo, and she had been captured like an amateur.

Her body trembled in its' kneeling position, shoulders shaking and legs tensed to pounce.

The seal on her neck, not the cursed seal, but a more recently applied seal, glowed on her neck briefly, exerting its presence on her.

Anko's body calmed, her shoulders relaxed and the tension seemed to bleed out of her legs.

"No Hokage-sama."

The Hokage nodded. "You are dismissed Anko, have a rest, you have earned it."

"Yes Hokage-sama."

Anko rose from her position, and walked out of the room. "_Fucking seals!"_

The seal, as if in response to her thought, sent a sharp lance of pain through her body.

* * *

Hiruzen sat back in his seat, mind replaying the conversation he had just had with Anko. She had seemed troubled, and her movements reminded him of someone in pain. He attributed it to the fact that she had most likely sustained injuries in the battle and was too proud to show it to him. Still, she had pulled through admirably; he knew he could place his trust in her.

Danzo was dead, Hiruzen had played his move, and now the enemy were missing their leader. The ROOT shinobi would be leaderless, and would know what to do. Danzo had created an army of emotionless ninja, but had neglected to establish a clear chain of command; as such the ROOT should be floundering in the dark.

The next order of business would be to deal with his friends. He would not send an assassin this time; he wanted to hear their reasons from their own mouths. For all he knew, Danzo could have strong-armed or blackmailed them into compliance. He still held hope that they would not be against him.

He still held hope, but not naivety. If they were against him, he would not hesitate to strike them down where they stood. None would get away with even entertaining the thought of betrayal. For Konoha, where teamwork and the Will of Fire were of paramount importance, betrayal was the worst of crimes.

Ironically, Konoha had the most notorious traitors in the world.

Rokushou Aoi, Orochimaru and more recently Uchiha Itachi to name but a few.

Putting thoughts of betrayal out of his mind, he retrieved his crystal ball, using it to keep tabs on one Uzumaki Naruto. He had originally helped Naruto and mentioned how to stick to walls, to make his time in Konoha easier to bear and to give him a better chance at escape.

Naruto had taken those few tips, and turned it into something terrifying.

Spying on the blonde, who was also up early and training in an abandoned training ground, he observed Naruto attempting to perfect his, for lack of a better term, breakthrough.

His technique of manipulating his surroundings enabled the blonde to create a bastardized version of every elemental technique. The only thing Naruto needed was imagination.

And lots of Chakra. Sarutobi had attempted it himself. He had found that it required absurd amounts of Chakra, enough to make a jounin stagger after one use, to perform. Thereby making it unique to Naruto. He was the only one who had the necessary imagination and Chakra to use it.

Sarutobi sighed to himself softly "_What a wasteful technique. But the possibilities are endless."_

* * *

Naruto had progressed slightly from two days ago when he had experienced his first success in his current line of training. He was now trying to decrease the amount of concentration needed, or rather, increase his multitasking capability. He was attempting to keep the ball of earth held together and suspended in the air while he simultaneously was hanging from a branch by his feet using chakra.

Well, that was the end goal. At the moment he could about 6 to 7 minutes before he invariably lost control and the ball crumbled.

It didn't matter to him though; he was still chuffed at his victory.

"Who's the man? Huh? I am! That's right I am!" Naruto was not the most humble of people.

"When I finally get this down I'm gonna be so awesome!" He could see it in his mind, him cloaked in a long dark trench coat blowing in the wind, with a shiny forehead protector upon his forehead. Surrounded by enemy ninjas, he would call the earth to do his bidding, while simultaneously commanding the water to wash around him in a deadly typhoon. Huge golems rising from the ground and trampling his foes while horses of fire stampeded through. And him, sitting in the middle of it all, with a bowl of ramen and a cute girl on his arm.

As Naruto fantasised he let out a small dribble of drool from his lips, caught up in the moment.

Time passed by, with Naruto alternately training or fantasising.

* * *

It was a nice, sunny morning in Konoha, and people were milling about. The sun shined its rays down upon Konoha's populace, empowering them with energy.

One particular ray, just going about its' business, raying down upon everyone with its brilliant rayness, was traveling through the training grounds of Konoha. After all, even animals needed sunrays, and this ray was going to deliver it, whether they wanted it or not. As it was passing through one particular training ground, it noticed a blonde boy, lying in front of a large pile of dirt, with drool coming out of his mouth.

Despite shining in the boy's face with all his intensity, he still wouldn't stir.

Gathering its' courage, the ray condensed itself into the form of a hand, delivering a swift, sharp slap to the boy's face, before hurriedly retreating into the sky.

Naruto snapped back just in time to see a flash of light in front of him, with his cheek in pain.

Realization struck him.

"IT WAS YOU!" Naruto had found the perpetrator, that cheeky sunray was hightailing it out of there.

Somewhere, Naruto heard a sound, as if a raspberry had been blown at him.

Angry from the slap, Naruto glanced at his watch, suddenly realizing the time.

"Academy starts in 10 minutes, I better get going, wouldn't wanna miss my own team placements!"

With a last glare at the sky, the blonde turned around and started making his way to the academy; mind lost in thought yet again about how he would improve his technique.

**8 minutes later**

Naruto walked in through the doors of the academy with a pensive expression, walking in and taking his usual seat. He did not expect to see Ino there instead. Giving her a lightly perplexed expression, Naruto said,

"Uh Ino? That's my seat." Ino blinked in confusion, before looking around the seat, inspecting every part of the chair, even getting up and checking underneath to make sure.

Naruto was really confused now.

Ino finished her check before plopping back down in the seat, and turning to Naruto with a questioning look.

"I can't see your name on this chair. So how can it be your seat?" Naruto realized what she had been doing and immediately glared at her.

Ino only sent back an innocent smile.

Naruto sighed, before lowering himself into the chair beside her.

"Excited for your team placement, Ino?"

Glancing at him the girl replied to his question, "Not really, I already know I'm going to be with Chouji and Shikamaru. It's practically guaranteed judging by their success of our fathers' team. What about you? Excited?"

"Hell yeah! I'm gonna be on the best team ever, no matter whom I'm with, cos they'll have me on their team. I bet I'm gonna get a kickass sensei as well. Maybe that Asuma character. I heard he's got blades of wind as his weapons! Ooh I know, I'm gonna get the Hokage himself as my sensei, he's the only one who can handle my awesomeness."

Ino slapped him, stopping his speech and bringing him back to earth.

"Idiot! How can the Hokage be a jounin-sensei? He's got all sorts of responsibilities; he can't take time out to babysit an idiot like you." Ino's face was exasperated.

Naruto just turned his face, and replied to Ino petulantly.

"He's still gonna be my sensei."

Ino didn't even bother to respond, she just settled for rolling her eyes up, as if beseeching some higher power why they had sent this boy to irritate her.

Just then Iruka strolled into the room, taking in the anticipating students with a smile on his face.

"First off, let me start by congratulating everyone on passing the test. I know it wasn't easy and you have all performed excellently. I am proud in all of you. Now then, the teams have been decided, and I must remind you that these teams will not be subject to change. Meaning that whatever team you end up with, will be your team. No amount of complaining will change that. Does everyone understand?"

Everyone nodded.

Iruka called out the teams, which ended up being Team 7 as Naruto, Ino and Sasuke with Hatake Kakashi as a sensei. Team 8 as Hinata, Shino and Kiba with Yuuhi Kurenai as a sensei. Lastly, Team 10 as Sakura, Chouji and Shikamaru were a team with Sarutobi Asuma as a sensei.

Iruka then wished them luck in their careers as Shinobi before giving them instruction to wait for their instructors to pick them up.

One by one, the other teams sensei's came to collect them, whisking away to parts unknown. Team 7 were the last team left. Naruto lasted 10 minutes in silence before breaking.

"What the hell! Where is that guy? He's our sensei, he should be here on time at least!" Naruto was cried out, angry at the insult against his self-worth.

"Calm down Idiot, I'm sure he's slightly busy and probably caught up in something. By the way, I'm more annoyed than you at the team I'm stuck with. I've got an Orange headache and a broody dark prince on my team. What have I done wrong to deserve such a fate?"

Uchiha Sasuke twitched and narrowed his eyes at the girl.

"I mean Naruto, you never take anything seriously, all you do is laugh and joke and prank other people with no respect."

Naruto winced, but didn't comment.

"And you Sasuke, all you do is sit there brooding about your dark past, well wake up loser, you're not the only one with bad memories."

The room suddenly grew colder, interrupting Ino in her ill-timed tirade and causing Naruto to perk up on guard.

"And what bad memories would those be Ino?" Sasuke's voice was like ice, his breath almost seeming to crystallise the air in front of him.

He rose from his seat, and began walking towards Ino, hands twitching almost imperceptibly at his sides.

"Would those be the ones that show you family lying dead around you. The ones that show you how they were butchered like pigs in their sleep. Would those be the memories of you desperately running to save your parents to see them cut down mercilessly. To be too useless, too weak to do anything. The memories that show your entire family being repeatedly killed while you can do naught but watch. The memories that show the streets running red with blood."

Sasuke was almost shouting by the end of the speech, hands balled into fists and eyes glinting with murderous rage. He seemed ready to strike Ino, who had realized that she had overstepped a boundary that should never be crossed.

"So tell me _Ino" _one could hear the loathing dripping from the name "What bad memories would those BE?!"

Ino cowered back in fear, eyes closing, before she was suddenly covered in shadow.

"Hey Sasuke, step away from her and calm down!" Naruto seemed ready to get physical if required. He had his hands tense and ready by his sides, while his legs were coiled and ready to unleash their energy. Similarly, his chakra seemed to be flickering wildly.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, not as one would look at a person, but as one would look at a sworn enemy, hate visible in his eyes. For a moment, it seemed as if the two were to come to blows.

Sasuke took a deep breath and calmed himself, the tension visibly draining out of his shoulders before his cold, aloof countenance had been restored.

Naruto did not budge, continuing to eye him critically. "You good now?"

Sasuke responded with a curt "I'm fine." Before turning around to return to his seat.

Naruto watched him go before spinning to face Ino, who had regained her composure. She flashed Naruto a wide smile and a quiet thanks, attempting to brush the encounter under the rug. Naruto just gave her an icy stare, not betraying any emotions, before returning to his seat. Ino watched him, confused at his attitude.

The three genin lapsed back into silence.

* * *

As the three genin of team 7 were getting acquainted with each other. Shimura Danzo was plotting. It was a plot of nefarious origins, however it was ultimately practical. At least, that is what Danzo thought of it.

Yes, he decided, being dead has its perks. With the suspicion off of himself. He was free to move faster and without fear of discovery. As long as he didn't draw attention, he was effectively invisible, and that fit in nicely with his plans.

The pieces were largely in place. A few more tweaks were needed, but by this point the operation was self-running. With Koharu and Homura providing insider intelligence, his ROOT conducting various acts of sabotage around the village, and him personally supervising the process it was unstoppable.

Yes, within a month, the operation would be ready to launch, and he would be free to take what was his rightful place.

"Danzo-sama" The bandaged elder turned to face his newest acquisition.

"Ahh, Anko-chan, how nice of you to join me. You answered my summons promptly."

"Bastar.." A sharp pain was sent shooting through her body, cutting her off mid reply and bringing her to her knees.

"Well, the untameable spirit is still there, such a strong character Anko-chan." Danzo was smiling now. Despite his prodigious skill in battle, and his shadowy influence that stretched into Konoha's roots, this is what he lived for. This feeling of absolute control and domination. This is the one position in which he felt most content. Giving orders and knowing that they would be carried out without question was an almost euphoric feeling for him.

But it was not enough, control over a single solitary shinobi was all well and good, but any fool could control another. No what Danzo wanted was something similar yet different, he wanted control over the whole of Konoha, from its oldest resident, to its most distinguished shinobi, to its youngest newborn baby.

He wanted everyone to answer to him. Including Sarutobi.

And this feisty snake charmer, would play a crucial role in bringing that vision to fruition.

"Be quiet and listen closely now, I have a … mission of sorts for you. You are to infiltrate the …."

As the bandaged elder laid out his mission, the snake kunoichi grew more and more horrified by the details, and struggled all the more mightily against the seal on her body.

It was all for naught.

* * *

**REVIEW RESPONSE**

_**Review from ladygoddess8:**_

_**I really like Anko and hope she isn't forced to become a bad person just because of Danzo. He needs to die.**__**  
**_

_**Response to ladygoddess8:**_

_Well, I like Anko too, but sometimes certain things must be done. For the plot of course, and not for my enjoyment._

_**Review from The Immortal Doctor Reid:**_

_**Wait if Mizuki isn't there to tell Naruto to steal the Forbidden Scroll, then ergo he doesn't realise he's the Kyuubi's jailer or learns the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, but maybe that's the idea? Maybe you want him to become better without depending on Shadow Clones? Also, I hope Anko escapes and Danzo dies brutally**__**  
**_

_**Response to The Immortal Doctor Reid:**_

_Mizuki isn't there anymore, but don't worry he will be used as an important plot point. He is needed for now, and still has his uses. Damn, I'm thinking like Danzo atm. In this fic, I tried to make Naruto a bit smarter than he is in canon, and to turn him into a free thinking badass by having him learn in his own way rather than be taught._

_**Review from Mazzax:**_

_**I'm worried about Anko now. I get the feeling that Danzo has something planned for her. Why would Sarutobi want her to go in unprepared, anyway? That doesn't make sense.  
I am curious whether Naruto is going to learn Kage Bunshin at some point in this story. I think it could go either way, but I can't think of a way it would come up. Unless he sees his sensei use physical clones, and asks to learn how to make them.**__**  
**_

_**Response to Mazzax:**_

_Sarutobi was a bit panicky, and made the most rational decision under the circumstances, he had just realised his oldest friends were plotting to kill him. That would shake anyone to the core, Hokage or not. What he did was partly revenge, and partly practical. Ergo, Anko had to go in as soon as possible to limit the damage._

_**Review from Prenumbra:**_

_**You're off to an okay start so far. Hopefully you'll pace yourself and not rush the story along. As for chapter two I had to check and see if I was reading the same story about halfway through, that was an extreme shift in tone there.**_

Looking forward to the next one.

_**Response to Prenumbra:**_

_I plan to pace myself, however once exams are over I'll have more time to devote, so it's possible that more chapters may be written faster. Chapter 2 was a tester of sorts, to see what I could get away with, and wether my humour is acceptable._

_**Review from NoSinglixRule:**_

_**Damn, the angry mob and the civilian council... Hidden villages are military dictatorships. There is no such thing as civilian council. It doesn't make any sense. And the mob makes even less sense...  
The council meeting is horrible. Fairness in the ninja village? Really?  
Why do the authors keep doing this BS again and again?**_

Good writing, but the lack of logic behind the story isn't appealing. I'll give the story a chance only because of the writing skills that are above the average._**  
**_

_**Response to NoSinglixRule:**_

_Plot device. I couldn't think of any others there, however I do plan on going back at some point in the future and making it more believable/realistic. I am aiming for realism here. _

_Also, in the Naruto world, Villages are portrayed as being civilian towns, with Ninja forces garrisoned there. I.e, its a normal town that produces ninjas as well. It makes sense for there to be a dual ninja/civilian council, for dealing with their respective matters._

_**Review from the foxy wolf:**_

_**love the paper coming to life and the hokage fighting it, that is new please keep it up!**__**  
**_

_**Response to the foxy wolf:**_

___Thanks for the support, I'll try my best.  
_

_**Review from zafnak:**_

_**Uhhh...the Hokage was attacked by..paperwork? Cool**__**  
**_

_**Response to zafnak:**_

_____I know right !  
_

_**Review from BajanDiva:**_

_**You can't suck a reader in and then leave them hanging like that!? What happens to Anko?! What happens to Naruto and the others!?**__**  
**_

_**Response to BajanDiva:**_

_Read on and find out!  
_


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